Fallen From The Stars
by HallowThorn
Summary: Lourina and Theresa are the princesses of Venus and Jupiter. Sworn enemies that have fought for millennia over an ancient grudge. As a new war arises, the pair find their way to Earth and get on the Justice League's radar. Co-written with YAY13
1. Crash Land

**Hey guys, so this is a story that me and my friend, who goes by the penname, YAY13 had the idea to write. So...enjoy!**

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Theresa Chandra stood staring into the mirror in front of her. Her pale Jupitian skin was glowing in fire of the sun that hung too close in the sky. Someone had attempted to control her wild lilac hair by throwing it up into a fancy knot that sat at the back of her head, but the curls were still thick. She was dressed in a white Mercian wedding dress, hating every second there. The bodice was too tight, and on the verge of collapsing her lungs, The skirt fell to the floor and pooled around her feet in a shine of white fabric. The entire thing was covered in small delicate arrays of ice crystals that covered her arms and gave the dress a vintage lace feel. Theresa cursed the geography of the planet, why the Mercurian palace had to be at the North pole of the planet, the only place on the entire planet that was cold enough to allow a constricting dress to be iced with snow.

Overall, Mercury was too hot, too bright and it was also the site of her arranged marriage. Theresa moved away from the mirror and sat down on the floating white slab that had been her bed the night before. She stared out at the planet from her windows. It was her job really. She was the oldest heir to the Jupitan throne but also the only girl. Her father's favourite, the one he wanted to inherit the throne, was her younger brother and unless Theresa was married off, it wasn't going to happen. Of course her father had told the family and the kingdom that she was going to Mercury to strengthen Jupiter's alliances and get the planet's help if a war with Venus started. Theresa couldn't exactly remember why Jupiter and Venus were enemies but there had been tensions between the two planets before even her father had been born. Failed peace treaty after peace treaty had been signed trying to stop a war between the two and now it was just trying to stop sparks from igniting a war. Theresa's best friend was Venusian and she would rather not see her friend being dragged in front of the royal family for execution and vice versa. So she was to get married.

Theresa had met Prince Oza and he wasn't horrible but she didn't care for him. He was too fake, refusing to really show anyone what he felt.

Then a maid hurried in. She was clearly Mercurian and Theresa recognised her as the woman who had been attending her since she had got to Mercury. Theresa stood up, eyes burning, believing it was time for the wedding. They were already running late.

"It's Natas." the Mercurian maid painted, sounding concerned. Natas was the king of Mercury, the one her father had manipulated into agreeing to the wedded union. Theresa hoped he had changed his mind about the wedding. If a war arose, she could talk play mediator.

The maid shook in her shoes and shut the doors behind her, making her way over to the princess that was still perched on the cold bed.

"The King." she reminded Theresa. "He's been murdered by a..."

"By a Venusian?" Theresa inquired casually.

The maid nodded, stunned, her greying hair falling out of her bun in her panic.

"Precognition." Theresa muttered darkly, it was a hereditary thing on Jupiter. Selected members of the Jupitan royal family were gifted with a third eye. It came in handy sometimes, though stress and panic tended to cause false visions. And that's exactly what Theresa had thought had happened last night when she saw the bright red figure attack the Mercurian monarch.

The maid continued to nod silently and then backed out of the room. Theresa watched her go and let out a breath she had been holding. She pulled off her crown, a silver piece of jewelry, intricate in design, with a ruby stone embedded in it to match her planet, and threw it away. It landed in front of the open windows.

Her mind suddenly became light and shards of images flashed into her mind. Of booted feet landing in front of the windows, of a hooded figure standing there.

"Precognition." Theresa muttered once again, this time curiously.

Then something flew through the windows. Booted feet landed and a hooded figure scanned the room. Theresa recognised the uniform they were wearing. It was a Jupitian place guard uniform. She tried to work out how the figure had gotten in when they turned to her. A mask of pale fabric was pulled up over the nose and mouth of the figure but the red slits for eyes made it clear what species Theresa was dealing with. A Venusian.

_"If you're here to kill me, couldn't you have done it before breakfast?"_ Theresa asked, speaking almost fluent Venusian.

There was a scoffing noise from the cloaked figure and then a voice rose.

_"Kinda missing my cooking, right about now?"_ the figure inquired.

Theresa recognised the voice instantly. She threw herself forwards, covering the mouth of the cloaked figure with one hand and pushing them into the shadows, away from the window, and against the wall.

"What on Jupiter are you doing here, Lourina?" Theresa hissed. "A Venusian assassin just killed King Natos, do you really think they're not going to be hunting Venusians?" She moved her hand slightly so she could hear her friend's reply.

"I didn't kill him." Lourina protested, pulling back the hood. She had bright red skin, bright red hair and bright red eyes. Her eyes glowed and her appearance made her very noticeable anywhere she went. Venusians were not a race made for sneaking around and, with her loud, excitable personality, neither was Lourina.

"I know you didn't. I dreamt about it last night. The assassin was a man."

Lourina grinned as she was released from the wall. "I didn't order it either".

"Some best friend you are." Theresa groaned.

"Oi, I'm working on it." Lourina protested, sitting on Theresa's bed.

Then her smile faded. She looked up at Theresa "You know I came to warn you, right?". The Jupitan Lourina sighed and looked down.

"A war is starting. Your people are using this as an excuse to start a war between the Jupitans and the Venusians. We need to get out of here before..."

A holographic screen flashed into life. It had a newscaster speaking Mercurian on it but neither princess had trouble understanding it. She announced that the Jupitans and the Venusians were at war but a Venusian peace treaty meant the Mercurians would happily stay out of the war if all Jupitans and Venusians were off the planet in a Samil, the Mercurian version of an hour.

Lourina looked at Theresa and shook her head.

"You Jupitans are just lucky that I managed to make peace with the Mercurians. Half of your royal guards are here."

Theresa looked at her friend, expecting bad news. "And just how are we meant to get off the planet if all my guards are on the ships?".

Lourina smiled her trademark daredevil smirk.

"Oh, your royal highness, we're going to steal one." Lourina said.

Theresa smiled and looked her friend in the eye, silver to red, "Promise me we'll stay out of this war?"

"Promise"

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**Six months later**

"Are you sure you can drive this thing?" Lourina asked as the spaceship shuddered through the endless dark sky.

Theresa was at the controls of the Jupitan space cruiser. Lourina was sitting next to Theresa, running checks.

"I said you could have stolen a Venusian ship but you were all 'We just broke out of the prison vaults, we're not going back in to steal a ship.' It's your fault you got yourself captured." Theresa said, not moving her eyes away from the dark abyss in front of her.

They were escaping from a Jupitian spacecraft after Lourina had been captured while trying to collect supplies from teaching anti-war protectors on Jupiter. Theresa had needed to rescue her best friend.

"Well this ship hasn't even got weapons. What are we meant to do?" Lourina asked.

The ship was under attack by the Jupitans. The small ship was vastly outnumbered by the Jupitan war vessels. '_Apparently Father doesn't care if his only daughter is killed'_ Theresa thought irritably.

Lourina checked the ship's logs as Theresa tried to stay out of the range of the weapons that were firing shots at them.

"I thought they wanted us alive." Theresa said.

"They don't need to kill us. They just need to stop us from getting away." Lourina reasoned.

Suddenly an explosion sounded. The lights flickered red as a warning sounded and the two teenagers glanced around.

"We need to get to Venus."

Theresa shook her head "We can't. The ship's sustained too much damage" The pair no longer had the resources to reach Lourina's home world and the anti-war protesters of Venus. Theresa brought up a map on screen and realised she needed to get the ship down on the nearest planet.

"Hold on" She warned.

Lourina's eyes widened "No no and no. That is your 'I have a plan' voice and it always ends up almost getting us killed"

Theresa's hands tightened around the controls and a small smirk crawled onto her face "First time for everything"

"Oh boy" Lourina moaned as she fell back into her seat and tightened her belt, praying to all the deities of her planet.

The princess of Jupiter pushed the controls forward and flicked a rather large red switch.

'Activating hyperjump' A monotone female voice announced.

From behind her, Theresa heard her friend give a small whimper as her pale hand slammed onto the hyperjump button The small, damaged ship suddenly shot away from the war vessels and into the dark space in a flash of purple light.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Theresa woke up to the smell of smoke and the heat of a raging fire. Her hands moved to take off the burning belt that trapped her to her chair. Her eyes moved to the screen as she leant forward. On the screen it said they were on Earth. She frowned and pushed herself up so she could search the wreckage for her friend. She guessed they had both been knocked out when the ship had crashed. She remembered trying to control their descent out of hyperjump and avoid blowing a hole in the planet that could be their salvation before a large explosion sounded from behind her. After a while her search for her friend became fruitful and her eyes widened. Lourina was completely on fire despite the fact that the teenager was unconscious. It had never happened before. As soon Lourina was unconscious, her fires stopped. Theresa frowned and pulled off her jacket, using it to help her put her friend out.

She knew that the Jupitans and the Venusians might be tracking the wreckage so they needed to get as far away from here as possible. Lourina came round with a frown and a moan. Theresa leant over her friend and raised an eyebrow "Can you put yourself out please?". Lourina shook her head.

"Too much oxygen." Lourina wheezed.

Theresa could understand it. Venus' atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide and barely any oxygen. Lourina wasn't used to high oxygenated atmospheres. She couldn't control her fire in them.

"Just try to stay calm. Earth is primitive, how dangerous can things be?" Theresa told her friend.

Lourina nodded as her and Theresa made their way out of the wreckage with Lourina still blazing. They made their way into a warehouse before they let their eyes wander. There were large crates stacked throughout the entire building. Various machinery was dotted here and there and ropes and rigging hung from the ceiling.

"Who knows, Theresa, who knows"

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Robin was training. All of his focus was on his gymnastics. Although many of his tricks and flips were second nature to him, he was taking in his every movement as quickly and as perfectly as he could.

Then a voice called his name. A sudden and abrupt breeze burst into the room and an excited, red haired ball of super speed and energy zipped around. Robin stopped his routine, hanging from one bar by both hands.

"What is it, Wally?" Robin asked, dropping onto the floor mats with the agility of a cat.

The boy in question, Wally, was zipping around like a small child. He said something so fast Robin guessed even the Flash would have had trouble understanding him.

"KF, take a deep breath and start again." the boy instructed.

Wally calmed but was still vibrating with excitement. "Someone has a fireworks display going."

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The night was definitely a time patrolling was made for. It was cloudless, warm and the air around the two boys had a calming effect. In the distance walls of light flashed into the sky. Both boys watched the fireworks happily.

Robin's blue holographic screen appeared from the boy's glove. Wally frowned and eyed the device in annoyance "You shouldn't be working"..

"There isn't meant to be a fireworks display tonight." Robin said, surveying Happy Harbour.

Wally watched as his friend frowned. Robin explained "Someone's reported explosions in a local warehouse" He looked for his friend but Wally had gone and in his space stood Kid Flash who was donned in his costume. He looked at Robin and grinned "Well what are we waiting for? We should get down there!"

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Theresa and Lourina were lying on the floor. Lourina had only just needed to lean on a wooden crate for it to catch alight. Rockets that neither were familiar with had suddenly began to explode from within the crate, causing the girls to throw themselves to the ground.

"For the record, I blame you for this" Theresa argued as a small rocket spouting pink sparks shot by her head.

"Whatever" Was her reply.

The girls were only just managing to avoid the rockets by pressing themselves to the ground as the fire burnt around them.

"Can you make the fire die down?"

"Too much oxygen." Lourina moaned at the Jupitan.

Theresa looked up quickly and saw the night sky looking down at her. She realised that the fireworks must have destroyed a section of the roof. She took a deep breath, hoping her powers wouldn't go haywire like her Venusian friend's had.

Clouds began to swirl in the air above her and the night sky darkened as the stars were blocked. Rain began to fall from the sky, gently at first and then more powerfully. The fires began to hiss and die. Less rockets erupted into the sky. Theresa knew Lourina's powers wouldn't completely die down unless she was completely drenched. However it could help Lourina control her flames. Lourina's fires died down a bit so Theresa could go near her friend without feeling like she was being burnt.

"I think stealth isn't our area of expertise." Lourina muttered as she got up.

Theresa joined her and looked around what was left of the warehouse. The walls were singed and rocket carcasses were everywhere, a few spraying the odd last bit of dying sparks. The machines were still burning slightly, sparing every now and again as water entered their system, and smoke billowed around the warehouse. She nodded and went towards the door. "I concur".

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Kid Flash and Robin began to survey the warehouse from the outside. They could see clearly signs of fire damage but a sudden rain storm had seemingly put out the fire.

"We should look around." Kid Flash said, going towards the warehouse.

Instead a door swung open. Two girls stumbled out. One who was dripping wet. She had long lilac hair, shining silver eyes and pale skin. Her friend was on fire and her eyes were glowing bright red. They immediately froze when they saw the two boys.

A stand still started with both sides staring at each other. Robin and Wally looked at each other. One of the girls, the one who was on fire, walked forwards. She seemed oblivious to the rain but steam rose from below her when she walked through puddles. She said something in a language neither of the boys understood.

"That's not a human language." Robin told his friend.

"You think?" Kid Flash retorted.

The girls appraised them with curious suspicion and the lilac haired girl called something out to them, in a language that seemed slightly different to the one her companion used.

"So... What do we do?" Kid Flash asked, watching the flaming girl with intrigue.

The two girls turned to each other and frowned. They discussed something quickly in a language they both spoke and then the pale skinned girl raised her hands. Fireballs formed in the hands of the girl with burning red eyes and a storm began to form above the boys heads.

"Oh man." Kid Flash remarked.


	2. Taken Prisoner

Kid Flash dropped to his knees and skidded across the grassy terrain as the flaming girl threw a fireball in his direction. He quickly climbed to his feet and began running again, he ran large circles around the girl, formulating a plan, and ducking all her attacks as she tried to figure out what he was doing. It seemed that the fire wasn't going to die down anytime soon though it might not have been within the girls control to do so. Now was the time to think. She was on fire. '_Brilliant deductions' _a small sarcastic voice whispered in the back of his mind. Rolling his eyes, he carried on, It didn't look like the fire was her life source so he needed to put the fire out.

With that idea in mind. He slowly decreased the size of the circles he ran around her, slowly and slowly building up a vacuum that sucked the oxygen away from the girl's flames, luckily the girl didn't seem to need oxygen to survive entirely so he wasn't suffocating her. The flames quickly died down and Kid Flash got a good look at the girl for the first time. She had bright red skin and bright maroon hair that cascaded down her back, her eyes were glowing red slits that watched him with an amused suspicion. He felt a small smile curl onto his lips as he looked at her. Despite her alien appearance, she wasn't too hard on the eyes.

Her eyes wandered over her arms that were now extinguished and she almost gave him a smile "_Thanks" _She spoke. Wally came to a stop and stared at her. His expression made it obvious that he didn't understand Venusian.

"Um….Hello" He started slowly, offering her a small wave "I'm Kid Flash. Please don't burn me to a crisp".

Her eyes narrowed at his attempt to communicate, her Venusian mind not understanding his language. Her red slits seemed to shrink even further as she noticed his outfit. Surely no normal person would wear something like that in public? Lourina's paranoia she had gained over the last few months kicked in and she immediately thought the worst.

A growl erupted from her throat and she launched her hand forward, a large fireball erupting from it and shooting in the direction of the speed driven boy.

He dodged it with ease and appeared next to her, leaning his arm on her shoulder "So, Hot Stuff, What're you doing around these parts?".

Her top lip rose slightly in a small snarl, revealing white teeth that contrasted greatly to her overall appearance. A torrent of fire left her hand in flurry of fury and Kid Flash had just enough time to avoid his head being turned into a bonfire.

"Oh man" He moaned defeatedly, patting his smoking hair down. "We could do with some help".

******XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Robin's blue eyes scanned the girl in front of him. She definitely was the more human looking of the pair. With her pale skin, striking silver eyes and wildly curled lilac hair, she could almost pass as human.

"Who are you?" He asked, holding himself back from attacking in case she turned out to be an ally.

The alien did not seem to understand him and she cocked her head to the side slightly. "_Who do you work for?"._

The language was one the Boy Wonder was not familiar with in the slightest and, with a small knot of dread forming in his stomach, he noticed the anger and defensiveness laced in her tone despite not knowing what she was saying.

Theresa watched the boy in front of her as his hand slowly moved to press a button on the device that was strapped to his wrist. Her eyes narrowed as it began to beep slightly. Panic surged through her. If he was contacting others then she needed to get Lourina and both of them had to disappear. They needed to lay low until they could find a ship and escape to the anti-war protesters that were on launched herself forward with a growl and her foot lashed out in a kick and Robin had to catch himself to avoid getting a boot to the face.

His own fears were confirmed immediately that she was a hostile and he felt a slight tingle of relief that he'd managed to send a distress signal.

Theresa retreated as Robin took out three bat shaped throwing knives. His arm threw them in her direction and he felt confusion leak through him as he registered the alien not moving as his batarangs soared towards her.

A strong breeze suddenly whipped around him and Theresa's eyes began to glow, much like her companions only they were glowing silver. The breeze strengthened around them and it caught the batarangs before hurling them back at their owner.

Robin rolled out of the way as the small devices exploded behind him. It was clear that the girl he was dealing with could control the weather he concluded after remembering the unforecasted rain storm that had appeared as if from out of nowhere earlier. Her powers were less obvious then he companions. Robin stole a glance in his teammate's direction and saw only a girl smothered in flames and a red bur racing around, leaving a small trail of smoke.

Theresa stood stock still as her eyes blazed silver. Soon enough, a dark cloud formed in the sky above the area. Robin's eyes shot to his opponent and he readied another batarang in his hand. The girl didn't seem to acknowledge his possession of a weapon and remained still. The Boy Wonder decided to test the water and threw it in her direction, readying himself to dive out of the way if she used the same trick. Instead, a bolt of lightning struck the batarang in midair suddenly and the explosion knocked both back.

Robin was gifted in acrobatics and managed to flip himself so he landed on his feet in a half crouch. Theresa wasn't so lucky. She landed hard on her back with a thud and she lost control of the cloud. Thunder roared above them and lightning flashed. One rather large bolt of lightning outlined a silhouetted against the cloud's surface.

A large red ship descended from the cloud cover and a smile grew on Robin's face "About time" He said.

Theresa watched in horror as the ship lowered itself and two figures dropped from the ship. One was male. He had dark skin that contrasted greatly to his pale hair and eyes, he was broad-chested and thick necked and, upon further inspection, Theresa could see slits on his neck that she realized were gills. His chartreuse eyes watched her carefully. His companion was female. She had dark hair that fell in small waves to just below her shoulders. She had light blue eyes that scanned the scene carefully before landing on her.

The three conversed quickly and the female called over the boy with bright red hair. Lourina met Theresa's eyes and the former nodded, red eyes alight with flames of panic. Theresa's hands moved to her jacket, that was littered with burn marks from Lourina's flames, and she took it off, revealing an intricate pattern of silver along her shoulder blades. They were similar to Aqualad's but these mainly stayed on her back, though a portion stretched down her arms. The three Earthlings watched with puzzled interest as the markings began to glow and detach themselves from her form. Before they knew it, a pair of opalescent wings were fluttering from behind the girl. They looked like the sort of thing you would find in an illustrated book about fairies that parents would read to their children for a bedtime story.

Theresa's wings began to move and Aqualad's instincts kicked in. The markings that wound round his arms began to glow light blue and water began to condense from the clouds above and shot towards the Jupitian. Lourina reacted faster. Her hand shot out and a torrent of flames met the water and the result was a cloud of steam that gave the interstellar duo enough cover to take off.

"Miss M!" Robin shouted at the large red ship above the "Go after them!" He turned to Zatanna and Aqualad "You two go into the warehouse, make sure there's no more fire and see if you can salvage anything from the wreckage that can help the league find out just who these two are".

"You got it, Rob" Zatanna gave a small salute and made her way into the warehouse, Aqualad on her heels.

Robin turned and his blue eyes met the pale green ones of Kid Flash "Can you give a guy a lift?".

******XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The wind lashed at Lourina's face and forced her burning hair back as her flaming form shot across the sky. "'Earth is primitive' you said. 'How dangerous can things be?' you said. Well, it turns out, Pretty dangerous!" Her flames flickered blue in her outburst.

Theresa flew just under her friend, avoiding the most of the heat that radiated from the Venusian "Well, I didn't know we were going to be attacked by superpowered Earthlings".

Lourina scoffed "Some seer you are".

"That is so not fair" Theresa argued "How was I supposed to know you were going to blow up the entire warehouse? I think you'll find that was your fault".

The Venusian sighed and gave her friend an unsavoury look "Fighting isn't going to do us any favours. How are we supposed to get back to Venus if we can't stop fighting each other?".

Theresa was silent for a moment before Lourina heard her reply "I hate it when you're right".

"Good. Now that we've gotten that sorted-" The Venusian was cut off just as suddenly as her ability to move was. She tried to move her arms but it felt like there was an invisible rope keeping her arms to her sides and her legs straight as boards.

"Lourina!" She heard her friend shout for her and caught a flash of lilac hair in her peripheral vision, as that to had been paralysed. Fear surged through her as she saw the outline of the red ship from earlier emerge from the clouds behind them.

A sharp pain hit Lourina's head and a strange sensation filled her, it was like she could almost mentally reach out and touch another beings brain. Like she could speak to them. Was this anything similar to what Theresa felt when she shared a vision with her? The pain worsened and her face screwed up. Her flames died down and she was surprised at how vulnerable she felt without them. The sensation spread throughout her body and a sudden feeling of exhaustion gripped her. Her eyelids felt like they were being forced shut and no matter how hard she fought against the fatigue, she slipped in unconsciousness.

Theresa watched as her friend's fames died and her body went limp, the strange force keeping her hovering in the air. Silver orbs glared at the red ship that was floating not thirty feet from her. Wings fluttering so fast they were only a glowing blur, she charged towards her friend, hoping that she could pull her from the force that held her.

Theresa's hand was just about to brush her Venusian friends arm when a strong force collided with her. This force was much more solid than the one that attacked Lourina. As Theresa and her attacker plummeted towards the Earth, the Jupitian could make out spiky black hair and bright blue eyes. So it was another one of those Earthlings?

Hands gripped at her wrists and limited her movements as they fell. She tried to distribute her weight evenly so she could fly again but the weight of her assailant was too much for her to lift. A bud of fear bloomed in her chest as she saw the ground getting closer and closer at a ridiculous speed. She could never survive this. And surely, neither could the Earthling. She squeezed her eyes shut as the impact drew nearer. The wind whistled in her ears and she tensed. The impact resounded in her ears and she was out cold before she could register the pain.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Your move YAY13

H.T


	3. Interrogation And Accommodation

Theresa woke up with a pounding headache. She was sitting in a metal chair and sleeping on the metal table in front of her. She frowned as she sat up and winced at the light. There was one very bright strip of light above her and it seemed to reflect of the plain grey wall. She went to rub her temples but she couldn't move one of her hands. She looked down and saw a pair of Earth handcuffs. She tried to use her powers again but, with her head still ringing, she just caused herself more pain.

"Ouch." she murmured, letting her eyes adjust.

When her eyes settled, she was sure she was hallucinating. A man dressed like some sort of creature was standing in front of her. To his left was a man dressed completely in green and holding a bow. To the creature man's right was the mass of muscle, bright blue eyes and spiky black hair that had knocked her out of the sky.

Batman, Green Arrow and Superboy all watched the teenager with varying degrees of anger. Theresa, of course, did not know enough to understand that the young man she had been fighting was in fact Batman's son and he had been told everything in vivid detail.

"Hey, kid, you need to explain what happened back there." Green Arrow said.

Theresa paused at that and frowned. She recognised the language. Slowly, she thought it through. She was on Earth – she knew dozens of Earth languages. She picked one at random and tried that. _"Bonjour, je m'appelle Theresa. Où est ma aime?" _(Hello, I'm called Theresa. Where is my friend?)

While the adult superheroes took in this new revelation that Theresa could speak an Earth language and decide if they should answer her question, Superboy stepped forwards.

_"Mauvaise langue."_ he said, his Cadmus programming giving him mastery over the French language.(Wrong language).

Theresa paused. She noticed Batman's glare and, trying to master Earth customs, glared back. She did, however, continue to answer Superboy.

_"Méjor?"_ she asked in Spanish. (Better?)

_"Idioma incorrecto."_ Superboy said with a shake of his head. (Wrong language)

Theresa opened her mouth to try another on but Superboy stopped her.

_"Halba usted Inglès?"_ he asked. (Do you speak English?")

Theresa paused and then nodded. "This correct?" she asked.

Green Arrow smiled at the fact the girl could speak English and was about to ask her a question when a wind whipped about the interrogation room. Superboy knew the girl was behind it and prepared to leap into action. Theresa hadn't taken her eyes off Batman for a long while and suddenly Batman's cape flapped over his face and he lost his focus on the alien girl.

"I winning!" Theresa laughed.

"What?" Green Arrow managed.

"We were having a staring competition, right? That is an Earth sport?"

Green Arrow looked from the Dark Knight to the teenager and couldn't stop himself from letting out a little laugh as Batman battled to keep his cape out of his eyes.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Lourina glared at the handcuffs that had been snapped around one wrist, keeping her at the table. They were glowing slightly and didn't seem to react to her attempts to melt them. She felt cheated; she had been told that there wasn't a single metal on Earth that couldn't be melted by a Venusian.

"Thank you, Zatanna. We felt like she might be able to melt out of normal restraints."

"No problem, Aqualad." Zatanna said as she let the interrogation room.

Superman stared at Lourina as she sat at the metal table. She shifted and then her red eyes glances from the Man of Steel to Aqualad to Red Tornado. Given how the girl's powers were able to be controls by wind and water, they had been selected to interrogate her.

"Who are you?" Superman inquired slowly.

Realisation dawned in Lourina's eyes and she smiled, leaning forwards.

"Earth is English?" she said with a proud smirk.

The heroes frowned at the shock in the girl's voice. They had predicted that such an alien teenager would be able to fully understand them.

"What is your name?" Aqualad asked.

Lourina shook her head and lent back in her seat.

"We're not here to hurt you. We just need you to answer these questions and then we can get you home." Superman told her.

"My friend. I need to um... Oh... I need to look her."

"See her? I'm afraid not. She's safe."

"You lie!" Lourina shouted, slamming her hands against the metal table.

Her eyes glowed red and her hair caught fire. The temperature in the room increased suddenly. Lourina had dealt with too many liars, traitors and murderers during the war to have the patience to deal with the liars of Earth. She just wanted to find Theresa, find a space ship and get off the planet before they were hunted down.

"You need to stay calm." Aqualad said. "Sit down and take a deep breath."

"I promise you, your friend is safe."

Lourina sat back down and seemed to calm. She studied her hands, masking the pain sparking from her wrist. She had hurt it when she had pulled against the handcuffs to slam her hands down.

"What is the saying? Liar, Liar, pants of fire?" Lourina sung.

Suddenly Superman's pants began to smoke. Then they erupted into flame, masking the Man of Steel in smoke. The corners of the girl's mouth twitched into a smile as she watched.

"Fire detected." Red Tornado announced.

In reaction, the android started up a wind in the room which put out the Kryptonian's pants. The pants were mostly in good shape but the red material was now littered with black marks.

"I am done." Superman said and left. Red Tornado followed him and Aqualad paused.

"My friends are exploring your ship, is it safe?" he asked.

Lourina shrugged and then frowned. She searched for the right words. "We took it and we... Um... We parked it badly?"

"You crashed it." Aqualad said and Lourina smiled, thanking him for finding the right word.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"There's not really much left of the ship." Artemis remarked.

She, Robin, Kid Flash and Miss Martian were studying the wreckage. Given the fire damage, the explosions from the fireworks and the actual crash, part of the spaceship had collapsed in on itself and sections of the metal had dug themselves into the walls and were stuck there.

"Go on, Zatanna, tell us what you've got for this craft." Kid Flash said over comm.

"Green Lantern is a pilot, right?"

"Yeah." Robin said.

"This database is stupid. Most of it is just comparisons to other planes and how nice it is to drive. I'll need a picture or something." Zatanna replied.

Robin fished a camera out of his belt and began to take pictures. Kid Flash raced over to Miss Martian while Artemis began to pick up the remains of fireworks. It was hard for her to tell apart the spaceship from the fireworks in some cases.

"So, our resident expert on aliens, what ship does this look like?"

Miss Martian paused for a few seconds and frowned. She used her powers to lift parts of the wreckage so it could begin to take shape.

"Robin, Artemis, you two would probably be the best suited to go in and have a look around. I'll keep the wreckage together but you'll need to be quick."

"Roger that, Miss M" Robin saluted before wandering into the wreckage, the female archer following him.

Artemis screwed up her nose at the smell of acrid smoke in the air filling the spaceship. She muttered how bad it was under her breath and Robin rolled his eyes, unplugging his computer as the doors opened.

"Then lets get out of here as soon as possible." Robin said.

They walked into the room Robin had just opened to them and they looked around. There were burns marks everywhere and the computers were flickering. Electricity was bursting from a smashed screen and Artemis was shocked. The ship looked like a death trap.

"It looks like a control room. Look, controls like the bioship has." Artemis remarked, pointing towards a central chair that looked out over everything.

Robin walked over to a screen and frowned. He looked up at Artemis "I guess this shows the logs" He turned back to the screen, typing at the remains of the control board. "I'm going to copy the logs onto my computer and we can get Miss M to look through them." Robin said, plugging in his computer.

Artemis continued to look around. She walked towards another screen checked it. She could see a red blip over Earth and a green blip over Venus.

"They were heading to Venus." Artemis remarked. "I wonder why?"

"Maybe there's a party going on there." Robin remarked.

Artemis moved away and continued to look around. She paused and then saw a screen which had been smashed into freezing. It showed damage reports of the ship, more than likely before the crash. Red marks showed damage to what Artemis guessed were wings and the back end of the ship. She gasped as she realised what it meant.

"This ship was attacked!" she exclaimed. "They were being shot at. No wonder they crashed."

Robin suddenly appeared beside her, looking at the screen. He frowned. "The damage is only to the engines, it looks like they were just trying to make them land, not kill them. Seems like the girls had a different idea. They would rather crash then get themselves captured." Robin said.

Artemis jumped and looked at Robin. She told him that she really wished he would stop doing stuff like that. Robin smirked and rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was the metallic thud as part of the ship fell apart. Both of the heroes winced.

"You had better get out of there." Miss Martian said through the mind link.

"On our way." Artemis replied and looked at Robin to check he had everything.

They began to slowly pick their way out of the wreckage.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Theresa was getting bored. She had been locked on her cell by herself for ages. She couldn't get out and she needed to see Lourina and discuss getting to Venus and finding protection with the anti-war supporters. She had given up trying to free herself from the handcuffs and was now running through what she could remember of the fight against their teenaged captors.

Suddenly the door to her cell was opened and Superman, still in his burnt pants, stood in the doorway.

"You've been requested." he said, simply.

He walked forwards, freed Theresa from the handcuffs and lead her out of the room. He kept a close eye on her, knowing to be slightly wary when dealing with the alien teenagers.

"So how is Lourina?" Theresa asked with a smirk, noticing the burn marks on Superman's pants.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Lourina!" Theresa shouted, running towards Lourina.

Lourina got up from where she was sitting and raced towards Theresa, hugging her when they reached each other.

_"How are you? They haven't hurt you, have they?"_

_"Of course not but I feel like I've been mind blasted by a Martian... Again."_ Lourina remarked. _"And this planet is too cold."_

_"Have you got your powers under control?" _Theresa asked.

She was happy to see that her friend had not once again caught fire but, for all she knew, Lourina might have needed help getting to that position.

_"Just." _Lourina smiled. _"Have you got a headache?"_

Theresa nodded slightly and then the two teenagers realised that they had been babbling together in Jupitian language and that Superman, Batman and Martian Manhunter were watching them.

_"If you are quite finished." _Martian Manhunter said in Theresa's language.

_"Nearly."_ Theresa replied.

She paused and turned back to Lourina, "_How on Callisto does he know how to speak our languages?!"_

_"He looks alien." _Lourina murmured. _"I would say he's Mercurian but he's green and they're not."_

Martian Manhunter stepped forwards "_It is rude to speak in a dialect that people in your presence do not understand"_

"Sorry." Theresa said.

Batman walked forwards and looked at both teenagers. "Now you can see that the other is safe, I think you should tell us your names and why you are here."

"We crashed!" Lourina said, proud she had remembered the word. She grinned at the heroes and then sat back down.

Theresa rolled her eyes at her friend "Our ship...it…...we….drove into Earth. I am Theresa" She said, gesturing at herself before her friend "And this is Lourina". Her pale skin flushed brightly, her English was incredibly rusty.

"Is there a chance that you are Venusian and Jupitian?" Martian Manhunter asked.

Lourina nodded. "I'm from Venus, Theresa's from Jupiter." she said.

Martian Manhunter nodded and turned to Superman and Batman. He looked at them both and drew them away from the girls. "As I thought. Jupiter and Venus are at war. These children must be running from the war." Martian Manhunter said. "I feel like we must offer them a form of shelter.

Superman looked back at the teenagers. He frowned. He wasn't happy with it. He didn't want to shelter the teenagers on Earth and possibly put the Earth in danger. "If we don't let them stay, what might happen to them?"

"The report of the team from the wreckage showed that the ship had been attacked. If we force the girls to leave Earth then we could be sending them to their deaths." Batman reasoned.

"The team tackled them before. They would only have one chance and it would be fully explained to them. If you still not trust that they are good people, I can read their minds..." Martian Manhunter told them.

Superman looked back at the teenagers. They had been talking between themselves but turned to the Man of Steel when they was he was looking at them. Lourina's eyes began to glow red as she smirked at Superman. Theresa got her friend's attention again as the heroes continued to debate where the teenagers would be staying and what rules would be put in place.

_"I think they want us to stay here."_ Theresa said dipping once again into her native tongue.

_"It's too cold. We're going to skip planet as soon as we can get a ship."_ Lourina replied.

_"Which could be years."_

Lourina paused and rolled her eyes. She watched the heroes for a few seconds and then looked back at Theresa. _"So we stay, we wait and then we go and help the anti-war supporters." _Lourina agreed.

Then there was a hand on her shoulder. Flames flickered up as she jumped as the teenager was still not fully used to Earth and it's level of oxygen. Zatanna pulled her hand back and frowned. "Sorry about that... I didn't mean to make you jump."

"Just not used to..." Lourina began, trailing off when she couldn't find the right words.

She looked at Theresa who shrugged. The adult heroes turned to the three and got their attention. "You can stay. This will be your home for the time being." Batman explained and then got Martian Manhunter to translate just to be sure.

The two teenagers were about to react when the team walked in. Superboy and Aqualad had joined them and Batman quickly lead the team away, Zatanna giving Theresa and Lourina a nod before she left. He was going to brief them on the rules of the two teenaged aliens staying with them.

_"For you to stay with these teenagers, there are a couple of rules."_ Martian Manhunter said in Mercurian, noticing the way the Jupitian shifted slightly as he spoke, he simply brushed it off as a dislike for rules. Both girls seemed to have a fond distaste for discipline. _"You are to try to follow human customs, try to fully learn the languages the team use and you will do as you are told by the League members, either attending meetings or simply standing down when needed. Finally and most importantly, you are not allowed to leave the Mountain just by yourselves. You need at least two members of the team with you at all times."_

Theresa and Lourina agreed. The rules weren't too restricting and they knew that, if needed, they would be able to find a way around the rules. Behind the pair, Batman was returning with the other teenagers. He had told them that they were to have a tour of the Mountain and then they would be taken to their rooms.

"They speak lots of alien languages, Miss Martian." Batman said. "If their English begins to fail, translate for them."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"And this is the kitchen." Robin said.

The teenagers had shown the two aliens a seemingly endless stream of training rooms and meeting rooms and both were looking slightly bored.

"This is where everything good happens – the food is made here." Kid Flash said, smiling.

He raced over to the fridge and returned in the blink of an eye with a slice of cold pizza. He began to eat it while the others were showing the teenagers where everything was. "And look..." Kid Flash said when both teenagers looked slightly lost by all the kitchen equipment. He reached down and turned on the hobs. Lourina's eyes lit up when she saw fire and she smirked, letting her hand catch fire. She stole Kid Flash's pizza off him and placed it on her hand, handing it back seconds later.

"You warmed my pizza?" Kid Flash gasped.

Lourina frowned, not understanding most of the words in his sentence. Theresa looked at Miss Martian as she turned down the hobs so they were off.

_"What he is eating is called pizza._" Miss Martian said. _"It's okay if you don't understand. I've got some books in Martian about Earth and..."_

Theresa was suddenly distracted. Superboy had moved towards the TV and turned it on, watching the static. Theresa was watching it, almost hypnotised.

"What's that? It's like a monitor but..."

Lourina looked at the others for an explanation but none of them were willing to give her one. She watched as her friend strayed away and then looked at the others.

"Rooms now?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Theresa and Lourina had been put in separate rooms but they were rooms right next to each other. They were all in Theresa's room. It consisted of simple furniture, a double bed, a desk, a chair, a wardrobe and a bedside cabinet. Robin had promised that, if they needed anything else (new clothes especially) they would have to go to the shops.

"My room's just down the hall if you need anything." Miss Martian beamed.

Lourina and Theresa looked at each other and then shifted.

"Names?" Theresa requested.

Miss Martian paused and then realised that none of the teenagers had done introductions.

"Hello Megan! You need names." She exclaimed, hitting herself on the forehead gently.

Robin stepped forwards first, holding out his hand with a smile. "I'm Robin." he said with a smile.

Kid Flash zoomed forwards so he had his arm resting on Robin's shoulder "Kid Flash, but" He continued with a coy smile "You can call me Wally, besides you" He suddenly appeared at Lourina's side "You can call me whatever you like" He flirted.

"_How about Narcissist?"_ Lourina murmured, her red cheeks steaming slightly as she blushed.

Theresa laughed at her friend as Aqualad stepped forwards "I am Aqualad, but off the job, you may call me Kaldur".

Next, Miss Martian flew over and smiled at the pair "I'm M'gann. Incase you didn't realize, I'm Martian Manhunter's niece".

_"Stupid Martian mind blasts." _Lourina muttered in her native tongue before smiling happily at the Martian, who clearly didn't understand enough Venusian.

Theresa smirked and watched as Zatanna and then Superboy introduced themselves. The latter with an uncomfortable glance at the Jupitain.

Artemis stepped forwards when she realised Kid Flash was opening his mouth to flirt once again. She introduced herself instead of letting the Fastest Boy Alive flirt with two aliens who understood limited English.

"I'm Theresa. That's Lourina."

"Lourina and Theresa – aren't those the names of the Venusian and Jupitian princesses?" Miss Martian inquired.

Theresa and Lourina shot each other nervous glances before Theresa spoke up "No. It's just a coincidence. We were both born around the time of the princesses so our parents decided to name us after them." she lied, quickly.

Lourina agreed with a smile. "As a sign of respect".

"Right" Kaldur nodded before gesturing to the door "I think we should leave and let you two settle in". Soon enough the team was bustling out of the door, Artemis forcefully shoving Kid Flash through the doorway. Lourina waved them off with a smile before she closed the door and turned on her friend.

_"Why did you tell them that we're the princesses?"_ Lourina said in Jupitian.

Theresa rolled her eyes. _"They know our planets are at war and they have their own planet to protect. If we pretend we're just aliens then they are less likely to send us away because we get too much bad attention." _Theresa reasoned in her native tongue.

Lourina rolled her eyes "_I'm not so sure"_. Normally she would be fine lying but the people they were with were good people and she felt guilty about not telling them. The Venusian sighed and ran a hand through her red hair "_If this backfires, it's your fault"._

_"I'm willing to take full responsibility."_ Theresa informed her friend.

Both were about to say more when the door swung open and Robin appeared "Sorry to interupt. But the team has to go".

"Why?" Theresa asked after a beat.

"There's something big going on downtown." Robin said.

"Can we help?" Lourina asked.

Robin thought for a few seconds and then smiled "Well, Batman and Martian Manhunter said you needed at least two team members with you at all times, so I don't see why not".


	4. Killer Croc

The bioship landed between the trees in camouflage mode. The group began to file out of it and Miss Martian allowed it to stay undetected by passersby. "Right, Team" Robin announced as they gathered in a small circle around him. "We've got a transmission from a news report saying we've got a disturbance in this area. There weren't any casualties so the League decided to let us check it out".

Aqualad nodded "Alright. We have a lot of ground to cover and we need to make sure that no civilians get hurt if this disturbance is indeed a threat. So I suggest we split into groups and comb the area separately, to save time".

The teenagers agreed and groups were quickly sorted at Aqualad's command. "Robin, you take Kid Flash and Lourina and scope the west".

Kid Flash gave a salute "You got it" He began to walk off in that direction with Robin trailing after him. Lourina made to follow but a hand on her shoulder made her stop. The Venusian turned to face Artemis, the latter giving the former a glare from her piercing blue eyes.

"Yes" Lourina asked politely, raising a dark red eyebrow at her teammate.

Artemis' eyes scoped over the young alien suspiciously before she met her eyes "Look. I'm not big on giving trust, but these guys are like family to me, so you better not try anything. Or I'll personally see you to a cell in Belle Reve".

Lourina's eyes widened and she took a step back. The name literally meant 'Beautiful dream' in French but the knot of dread forming in her stomach made her think it wasn't as nice as it sounded. "I would never-".

"Hey ladies!" Kid Flash announced as he appeared next to the pair "What're we talking about? Me, I hope".

Artemis smiled at him before she turned to Lourina, the smile too sickly sweet. "Don't flatter yourself, Baywatch. I'm just giving her some friendly words of encouragement" And with one final, subtle, glare in the Venusian's direction, the archer strode away, rejoining her group.

"You okay?" Kid Flash asked, his eyes trained on the girl before him.

"Fine" Lourina replied, leaving the speedster behind as she walked after the Boy Wonder.

Aqualad watched the trio go with slightly narrowed eyes. He had seen the interaction between Artemis and Lourina. He knew the archer, along with Miss Martian, were not too keen on the new teammates. And it was job, as leader, to keep the peace. That meant he had to stay with the girls.

"Artemis, Miss Martian, you're coming with me. We'll take the east." He instructed. He noticed the wide eyes glance Miss Martian sent him and gave her a stern look in reply. She turned away from him, her copper eyes burning holes into the ground. "Which leaves Theresa and Superboy to take the south".

Artemis and Miss Martian exchanged looks as they turned to watch the half Kryptonian and the Jupitian walk away from the Bioship.

Once Aqualad was sure the pair were out of earshot, he turned to his pair of teammates behind him. "If we are going to work as an effective team, I suggest you two put aside any trivial grudged you think you may have acquired since Theresa and Lourina's arrival".

Miss Martian looked down again, gripping one arm. Artemis, however, went to retort but Aqualad raised a hand to silence her "Artemis, please. Your quarrel is not with me. Let us just finish our job". With that he turned and began his search, leaving the girls in minor shock.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Lourina walked along the riverbank wearily as her eyes wandered around the scenery. She made sure to keep a safe distance away from the edge at all times. As a Venusian, if she were to fall in, it wouldn't be good for her. A quick breeze brushed past her and she turned, her red eyes meeting forest green.

"You look really hot." Kid Flash said with a smirk, pleased he had found a girl he could flirt with who hadn't heard his chat-up lines a hundred times before.

"I am Venusian." Lourina answered as if it explained everything, keeping her eyes on the green trees that surrounded her.

Robin rolled his eyes, as he studied the hologram that appeared over his wrist. "He means you look nice." he translated.

"Well then tell him he looks nice too."

Robin frowned, looking up from the screen and looking at the two metre distance between the two. "Why can't you tell him?"

"Because I don't understand what he is saying!" Lourina hissed.

Robin rolled his eyes and looked at Kid Flash. The latter grinned cheekily. "Go on, Rob, tell me I'm hot." the speedster teased.

Robin shook his head at his friend and kept walking. Kid Flash watched him go and tilted his head to the side "I am, right?...Pfft, of course I am".

Lourina watched as the speedster ran after his friend. They certainly were an odd pairing, the whole team was, but it worked. They complimented each other really well. Much like her and Theresa. Lourina was incredibly reckless at times while Theresa's skepticism managed to let her assess situations rather then charging headlong into them.

Her train of thought was derailed as the sound of splashing water caught her attention. She turned to face the river that flowed next to them. Her maroon eyes scanned the dark surface of the water closely. Water was definitely not one of her favourite things in this or any other world. Her attention was drawn to a dark shape in the water that was moving in her direction quite quickly. The shape grew and moved faster and faster as dark green spines exited the water. Hands suddenly grabbed at her and she felt herself being pulled backwards. Flames licked at her skin as she panicked but they died down when she realised it was only Kid Flash. Who stood in front of her, staring at the place she had been standing moments ago.

Where another being stood. He stood tall at a strong seven foot five. His posture was hunched in his large height. A pair of tattered trousers clung to the monsters hips, revealing a mass of scaled armour that interlocked across the humanoid's body. Dark red eyes glinted maliciously as a long pale tongue slithered out of a heavily toothed mouth and tasted the air. Clawed hands hung at his sides as he assessed the trio of teenagers with an inhuman predatorial instinct.

Robin's eyes widened and he took an involuntary step back "Killer Croc" he whispered.

"Oh look, it's the Bat Brat" Killer Croc hissed, his eyes glued on the Boy Wonder.

Kid Flash seemed to deflate "And once again, no one notices the Smokin' hot Speedster".

Lourina frowned as she appraised the villain in front of her, switching her gaze from the boys next to her to the lizard man next to the river "Do all Earthlings look this different?"

"Not all of them" Robin answered tersely, fear coursed through his body but he forced himself not to show it, forcing his words out through gritted teeth "Only the psychotic murderers tend to".

Killer Croc let out a growling laugh as he smiled wickedly, exposing row upon row of razor sharp teeth. Lourina's eyes widened in surprise. Dealing with bloodthirsty villains was nothing new to her. During the first few months of the war when herself and Theresa were on the run, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus all sent out guards, and the more sketchy of the three planets sent out their best bounty hunters, after the pair. Lourina had quickly learned how to defend herself and fight pretty efficiently.

"Holding grudges, I see" Killer Croc muttered "Batman is the same".

"Rob, I think we need to call for back up" Kid Flash whispered to his friend, loud enough for Lourina to hear.

Robin gave a small nod and pressed the silent distress signal on his comlink. Killer Croc didn't seem to notice.

Kid Flash quickly diverted his attention towards himself "What are you after, Croc?" He demanded and Lourina was surprised to see such a serious side to the fun loving boy she had met.

"Oh, the usual. Hunting hostages, pillaging banks. It's rather fun" He growled, his teeth shining in a dangerous smile "Though it appears I might have found myself a hostage or three!". He launched himself forward, his speed was incredible and Lourina had a hard time keeping her eyes on him.

Wally was faster and began dodging the villain, taunting him at every turn. Robin relied on his instincts, he ducked and rolled and went on the offensive whenever his body told him too. So when Killer Croc turned in her direction, there was one thing she could do.

Flames suddenly coated her body and the reptile flailed backwards, the heat a sharp contrast to his cold blooded physiology. Snarling, the villain turned and backhanded her. She flew backwards, her flames dwindling. Her ears heard voices yell her name and she braced herself for the hard impact that was sure to come when she met the ground.

The impact came, much softer than she expected it to. Warmth surrounded her and she felt herself be placed on cool earth, quickly but gently. She opened her eyes to find a yellow blur racing around, a familiar voice radiating off of it "Hot! Bad idea! Bad idea!".

She smiled slightly at the speedster, planning on thanking him later, and turned back to the reptilian man. Robin had his pole out and was holding it in a defensive position, ready to attack if he needed to. Killer Croc was hunched over, supporting his weight on his hands, circling around the Boy Wonder like a hyena would do it's prey.

Killer Croc lashed out with a claw clad hand, making to tear into the boy. However, Robin blocked the attempt with his stick and began pushing the villain back. It wasn't working due to the beast's far more superior strength, this would have been a task better suited for Connor. The match quickly changed to Robin trying to keep the claws away from his face.

Killer Croc suddenly froze. At a close proximity, you could see his nostrils twitched slightly. He hissed and his eyes turned to slits. He threw Robin back with his head and retreated a few steps, looking around suspiciously.

Robin sat up and, with a groan, placed a hand tenderly on his side. The butt of his pole had hit him in the side as he landed.

Kid Flash appeared in front of him, hand out stretched to help his fallen teammate to his feet. Both boys turned to see Lourina launch a large fireball at Killer Croc, causing him to retreat further back.

A whistling caused the creature to snap his head towards the sky as a dark blur came speeding towards him. Killer Croc went to dodge but a sudden breeze picked up and forced him to stay put as Superboy slammed his fist into the beast's head.

Killer Croc flew backwards and landed on the ground, growling.

Superboy stood up, brushing himself off, and turned to the group. "Please tell me that wasn't another Cadmus experiment".

Robin shook his head "No. His name's Waylon Jones. Mutation. Not experiment".

"Good" Superboy gave a quick nod.

"Thanks for waiting" A new voice called out sarcastically.

The group turned and saw Theresa land gently, her wings dematerializing behind her.

"Sorry" The kryptonian apologized, though his eyes were trained on the villain, who was slowly climbing to his feet.

Killer Croc snarled and, with a speed no one could really register, he charged forwards and threw Superboy backwards with a swift hit.

Kid Flash went in to attack next, speeding towards the reptile from behind. Killer Croc heard him coming and grabbed him before throwing him in Robin's direction. The Speedster collided with the Boy Wonder and knocked them both to the ground.

Lourina looked around and saw that Theresa and herself were the only ones up, the rest struggling to get to their feet.

Killer Croc laughed, a deep rumbling sound. "Well well. Forget three hostages" His tongue shot out and swiped his lips "Looks like I've got five".

Both Lourina and Theresa glared at the beast. They had spent too long on the run to be hostage to a science accident. Theresa raised one hand to the sky and a cloud formed in the sky. Her eyes glowed as a lightning bolt struck Killer Croc.

He roared in anger as the electricity coursed through him. He clamped his teeth together and, as the shock faded out of his system slowly, he climbed to his feet. Theresa's attention was on the cloud, trying to disperse it and keep it from going out of control like it had when she and Lourina had crash landed on Earth. She didn't see Killer Croc charge at her, clawed hands outstretched.

"Theresa!" Lourina shouted, running towards her Jupitian friend. She managed to push her out of the reptile's path as he collided with her small form instead. His clawed hands wrapped around her neck and waist as he slowly moved towards the stream that flowed behind him.

Kid Flash shook his head to clear it and his green gaze fell on the Venusian that was struggling in the beast's hold. He got to his feet and went to charge but Killer Croc shook his head and tightened his grip around Lourina's slim neck.

The alien choked slightly and began wriggling furiously. Superboy and Robin glared as the villain edged closer to the river, both wanting to attack but neither daring to on the risk that the creature hurt their friend. Theresa's eyes flickered around the group in a nervous constant, one hand fisted and brought to her mouth, before settling on Lourina.

"I wonder what will break first?" Killer Croc taunted, keeping a tight grip on his hostage "The group? Or her neck?".

No one acted and Killer Croc took that as a safe cue to leave. He turned and dove into the water, disappearing into the depths.

Theresa was the first to snap out of the group's stupor "Lourina!" She yelled as she began sprinting towards the river bank.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist and held her back as she fought in their grip "Let me go!".

"Theresa, calm down! We can help her" Superboy's voice spoke from behind her.

Her efforts increased "No, you don't understand! She can' survive in water, It'll kill her!" Tears sprung in her eyes as an image popped into her mind. A body floating in the depths of dark water, dark red hair floating around their face as their skin turned pale from lack of fire exposure.

She shook her head as Robin frowned "We need to call the others. Killer Croc likes to hang around the sewers so that's where he'll take Lourina. Kid Flash, contact Kaldur and explain the situation to him. Tell him I think he should go back to the bioship with the girls and scour the nearby waterways. The polluted water in the sewers won't do him any good".

"You got it Rob" Kid Flash replied before he began contacting his absent teammates and getting them up to date.

"And what are we doing?" Superboy asked, watching Theresa out of the corner of his eye in case she tried to run for the river again. Instead she paced, nervously twirling a strand of her pale purple hair.

"We get the good job" Robin grinned "Searching the sewers".

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Let go of me, you mutated gecko!" Lourina cried as she thrashed in Killer Croc's grip. Her cries echoed off the concrete walls of the sewers that surrounded them.

The villain was lumbering through the exit of one of the dark tunnels, carrying the Venusian like a sack of potatoes slung over his shoulder. He snarled at her and tightened his grip his claws beginning to dig into her red skin.

She grunted in pain and sighed angrily "Oh that's it" Flames licked at her skin and lit up the water filled room around them. The flames were smaller then they would have been normally and she muttered profanities as her damp hair stuck to her face. She felt drained, the water sapping her ability to combust and therefore taking her energy though she still fought ferociously.

Killer Croc's growling went down an octave and Lourina found herself submerged in cold, dark water. Her gut told her to clench her eyes shut and she heeded it's advice. She panicked and began struggling with more effort. The water extinguished her flames and she felt her limbs become heavier. Her mind fogged and suddenly air became a problem she tried clawing at the water in a feeble attempt to get to the surface but it did little more that stir a few bubbles.

Water suddenly sloshed around her and air became available. Her lungs burned as she inhaled deeply and coughed, her body gave up fighting as her world spun. She slumped against Killer Croc's back as he carried on his journey down the dark tunnels.

Her body suddenly fell against damp concrete as Killer Croc dropped her. Her fingers twitched slightly and she attempted to push herself up but a bout of nausea had her slump back into an exhausted heap on the floor.

The humanoid crocodile smirked, sure in his decision that she wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a long time. He stood up, abandoning the girl as dove into the water and began swimming into the deepest bowels of Gotham's sewers.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"What's Lourina's problem? She can't control her powers and then she gets herself kidnapped by a giant crocodile!" Artemis growled, leaning back in her seat as her eyes absentmindedly wandered over the screens in front of her.

"You think that's bad, Artemis, Superboy has gone all starry eyed over that Theresa girl who can't even get the Bat glare straight and she spends most of her time showing off because she can speak French and Spanish and..." Miss Martian ranted as she drove the Bioship, her venting causing the spacecraft to accelerate.

"I know, Miss M. They think that because they come from different planets that none of the Justice League have ever met inhabitants of before, they can waltz around like they own the place! Who do they think they are? Princesses?".

A deep, masculine sigh resounded from the seat opposite Artemis and a voice spoke up. Small traces of annoyance tinged his normally calm persona. "Miss Martian, Artemis, please, I understand that you do not like Theresa or Lourina and I do not expect you to get along with everyone but what I do expect of you is for you both to act maturely and trust your teammates. You cannot keep talking behind their backs if we are to work as a team, so I suggest you get it out of your systems before we meet up with the rest of the team or I will take you both off missions until you can learn to work in harmony with them".

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"There we go" Robin announced as the lights that lined the walls of the sewer tunnels bathed the constrictive space in a dim light.

Kid Flash grinned "Nice work, Rob. I knew that hacking talent of yours would light the way to success one day" He joked.

Robin rolled his eyes at his friend before he began walking. "So, to you, success is Lourina".

"Yes" Kid Flash answered quickly before he realised his mistake "Um..no. I mean, she's our friend and I want her to be okay. So finding her mean the mission is a success".

"Alright, K.F" The Boy wonder chuckled "If you say so. But your secrets safe with me".

"What secret?" Kid Flash rose an eyebrow.

"Don't worry. I won't tell her" Robin laughed at his friend's expression.

"Tell who?" The Speedster's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. And his ears were tinged pink.

Robin went to reply when a small noise caught his attention and he froze. It sounded like someone shifting on the ground. Their clothing catching on the hard floor.

"Rob, you're becoming delusional. I don't have any secrets" Kid Flash was saying, sounding more like he was trying to persuade himself rather than his friend.

Robin's brow furrowed as Kid Flash's ranting blocked out the noise he was straining for. "Shh".

Kid Flash's eyes widened "Oh no. You did not just shush me".

"Shh!" This time it was harsher than before.

"You shushed me!"

"K.F, shut up for a second. I heard something and I think it might be Lourina".

As quick as he would get a pizza, Kid Flash's lips slapped together and silence settled over the two. Both heroes ears strained for the noie and they heard it. Robin frowned as he followed it's origin. After a few minutes of blindly following their smallest lead yet, they came across a dark doorway.

The boys exchanged looks before the Boy Wonder gave a nod and they both crept into the room slowly. Two pairs of blue and green eyes widened as their gazes fell on the red figure laid helplessly on the floor.

"Lourina!" Kid Flash cried before he ran towards her, hesitantly placing his hand on her shoulder. Cold. She was closer to a human body temperature then what it should be and he couldn't feel any heat radiating from her. Next, his eyes fell on the puddle of water that had pooled around her. She was soaking wet.

Placing his hands on her shoulder, he gently shook her "Lourina?".

She groaned and turned her head, her red eyes opening up slowly "W-what happened?".

Robin frowned from where he stood "Short term memory loss. A symptom of exhaustion. We should get her to Agent A".

Kid Flash turned to face his friend "What about Killer Croc".

"The League can deal with him" He answered before walking out "Come on, let's meet up with the others".

Kid Flash sighed, looking down at Lourina, brushing a stray piece of damp hair out of her face before he scooped her up in his arms, holding her tightly yet gently, and followed his teammate out of the room.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The constricting tunnel opened into a large room. There was a concrete ledge that lined one wall and lead to another tunnel on the other side of the room. The rest of the room was flooded with sewer water, the smell wafted upwards and Theresa tried not to gag as she breathed. Human's were gross sometimes. "So" She started, hoping to make conversation "What powers do you have?".

Superboy sighed and continued his search, glancing back at her slightly "I'm Superman's clone. I was made by an organisation called Cadmus. I can pretty much do what he can, besides flight and laser eyes".

Theresa let a small smirk come onto her face "So you can survive the Pants of fire?".

He laughed slightly "Yes".

Suddenly Theresa let rip a string of colourful language and Connor turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just stepped in something." Theresa groaned.

Connor looked her up and down. "Well the rest of you looks okay." he said trying his best to hold back what he deemed a flirtatious line.

"Thank you" She answered back, politely.

"Don't mention it" He replied bluntly, walking off and almost disappearing down the sewer.

The Jupitian sighed, biting her lip, and went back to searching. She was worried half to death about Lourina. She didn't know if she was okay. And Europa forbid that they came all this way, survived all they had, only for her to be taken down my an overgrown newt.

She gasped as a sudden sharp pain hit her head. She hunched over and gripped her head. Images flashed through her head in a slideshow of horror. A mass of muscle and scales slithering in the darkness. A glowing red eye. Sharp teeth digging into pale flesh. Cries of pain. A splash of brown water.

She was thrown back into reality with a start and had to catch her feet, only to stumble into a strong chest. She looked up to be met with a pair of concerned blue eyes. "You okay?" Superboy asked, frowning slightly.

The vision came back to her like a tidal wave as she heard movement behind her. "Look out!" Theresa's eyes widened and she quickly shoved Superboy hard in the chest. He fell back, more out of shock than the force of her movement.

He landed on the ground with a thud at the exact time Killer Croc burst from the water behind the pair and sprang towards Theresa. The Jupitian screamed as the humanoid reptile reached forward with his large clawed hand and grabbed her around the waist. Killer Croc lifted the young alien off of her feet and over the water he resided in.

"Well well, what do we have here?" He hissed, his tongue escaping his mouth and flickering over Theresa's cheek, causing her to lean away from him as much as she could. "A little snack".

"Let her go" Superboy's voice echoed off the constricting walls of the sewer as the half Kryptonian stood and glared at the reptilian villain. Theresa looked at him in panic as she struggled to get her arms out of the reptile's grip.

A hiss boiled out of Killer Croc's throat as he turned to face Superboy, red meeting blue. "Oh, the clone speaks".

Superboy growled at the derogatory term and his hands fisted at his sides. He made to go on the offensive but froze as Killer Croc lifted a wicked looking claw and placed it under Theresa's chin, chipping off a bit of skin. "Ah, ah ,ah. Another step and I'll snap her like a toothpick" He growled. The lilac haired girl began struggling, a small bead of blood dripping from where his claw had pierced the skin.

Her squirming was put to an end as Killer Croc growled and tightened his grip. Theresa gasped as the pressure increased on her slight body. Breathing suddenly became very difficult and she found herself becoming lightheaded quickly. She cried out in pain and grit her teeth as she tried to bear it. She knew the lack of air wouldn't kill her so quickly as an ordinary human. Air on Jupiter was thinner than it was here. No, the main problem would most likely be asphyxia. She hoped Superboy had an idea, and fast.

The pressure was suddenly torn from her body as Superboy acted. He launched himself at the humanoid reptile and caught him by surprise at his bold action. Superboy and Killer Croc landed hard in the water, a good distance away from the Jupitain, but not before Killer Croc's claws managed to catch Theresa in the leg.

The girl cried out both in pain and shock as gravity took effect. Her instincts kicked in quickly and her wings materialised, rapidly fluttering behind her as she forced herself to stay in midair. She collapsed when she was over the concrete bank of the sewer. Oxygen rushed into her lungs as she breathed deeply, forcing her heart rate to slow. Coughs wracked her body as the adrenaline pumped through her.

Sound came back to her in a wave and she barely noticed the three parallel gashes in her leg as her eyes landed on Superboy. The half Kryptonian was wrestling with the large reptile and it was clear he was at a major disadvantage. Superboy was slightly clumsy in the water, his speed was slowed by the water and he couldn't land any decent hits. Killer Croc, however, was in his element. His reptile like figure allowed him to move through the water quickly and effectively. His hits were accurate and almost always hit their target.

Superboy snarled as Killer Croc came at him again. Instead of dodging, like he had for the last few hits, the boy decided to try another approach and met the beast head on. Brute force against brute force. Superboy pushed with a strength Superman would have been proud of, though his feet slid under the water occasionally.

A metaphorical light went off in Theresa's head as she observed her surroundings, trying to force out the sounds of the raging fight so she could concentrate. She trusted Superboy to not get himself killed. The walls were sturdy, though slightly worn. The roof looked like it was majorly intact and wouldn't collapse if a little pressure was put on it.

She trusted her instincts and went for it "Superboy, get out of the water!".

He glanced in her direction and light blue met silver for a brief second. He seemed to make a decision and he gave her a small nod. He pushed off with feet and sent Killer Croc flying back with a bellowing roar that echoed off the walls so loudly, it made Theresa want to cover her ears. With a grunt, Connor landed in a tense crouch beside her.

"What do you have planned?" He asked as he eyes her with a curious suspicion.

Theresa didn't look at him she kept her eyes trained on the humanoid crocodile that was now struggling to his feet and making his way towards them. "You might want to move back".

Superboy heeded her warning and took a few cautious steps back after he stood up. He watched as Theresa tensed up and he knew what she was doing.

Theresa's eyes began to glow a soft silver and the wind began to swirl around her as it gradually picked up. A dark cloud formed above Killer Croc as he swam through the water towards them quickly. Nothing seemed to happen and Superboy took a step forward, intent of driving the reptile away if he got to close.

Then it happened. The pressure dropped and Connor felt his ears pop. The cloud seemed to growl before forks of bright light jumped from it's dark surface and hit the water. Killer Croc howled in agony as the lightning electrocuted the water, causing the electric current to pass through him. He slowly faded from consciousness and his large body floated to the surface.

Connor whistled "Well, that worked" He remarked.

Theresa nodded, but her head was swimming. She hadn't meant to lower the atmospheric pressure so much but they were in an enclosed space. The air pressure was much higher on Jupiter and she felt like she would pass out. She shook her head, trying to clear it but only helped slightly. "Yeah" She moaned slightly, squeezing her eyes shut.

Silence settled and when she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find Superboy at such a close proximity to her. He was crouching in front of her, icy gaze resting firmly on her leg "You're hurt".

"I-it's only a graze. I'm fine" She tried to brush it off but he wasn't listening to her.

His programming had given him basic first aid knowledge and as he assessed the gashes, it was clear it was a severe injury "This is going to need stitches" He murmured before looking around. The best thing to do was to dress the wound with a clean bandage but, as he looked at both their attire that were dripping with sewer water, there wasn't anything to use. He bit his lip, noticing that the wound was starting to clot, though her lightheadedness might be due to blood loss.

"We need to get you back to Mount Justice" He instructed.

Theresa went to object, wanting to find Lourina beforehand, but, after a stern look from the half Kryptonian, she shut her mouth with an audible snap.

Superboy sighed, leaving a tracker on the unconscious Killer Croc for the league to deal with, before he helped her to her feet. He made her lean all her wait on him as he lifted her onto his back. Theresa dug her head into the back of his shoulder, the wet fabric clinging to her skin, as he began walking, exhaustion taking it's toll. Her eyes fell shut and, to distract herself, she focused on the lumbering rhythm of Superboy's pace.

Something rancid caught her attention and she spoke, still not moving her head "Superboy?" Her voice was small and laced with exhaustion.

Superboy kept his eyes forward as he answered "Yeah?".

"You smell. Like, really bad"

From behind him, she couldn't see the small, almost unnoticeable, smile that crept onto his lips.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The dark body washed up on the riverbank. Snake like red eyes snapped open as a torrent of cold water was expelled from his lungs in a booming cough. Clawed hands landed heavily on the ground, sinking into the soggy earth, and began pushing the scaly figure further onto the bank.

Killer Croc snarled as he pushed himself onto his knees "I'll get those kids" He growled.

"Rough night, Waylon?" A bold voice spoke out.

At the sound of his real name, Killer Croc snapped his head towards the voice, eyes feral. Two bright lights blinded him momentarily and as he raised a hand to shield his eyes he realised they were headlights to a sleek, expensive car.

His red eyes were met with cold green eyes shining with an anger that rivaled his, only held beneath a more dignified ferocity. The man before him held himself proudly, radiating power and confidence. His face was inviting but not necessarily warm. A broad nose sat between two focused and intense eyes that observed each detail clearly. Clad in a dark suit, the man ventured towards the reptilian man and away from the safety that this large black car provided.

Two men flanked the sides of the car, both sturdy and strongly built, ready to jump into action if they had to. A young woman was standing between the bodyguards. She had straight honey coloured hair, dark brown eyes and overall emotionless features. Her mouth was set in a line as she watched the reptile in front of her.

"Luthor" Killer Croc growled as the business man approached him. "What do you want?".

"Information" Luthor answered truthfully. "Information you have".

"Information on what?" Killer Croc asked.

"Information on those children you fought. Not Batman's boy or Superman's clone. The new girls. I believe there are two of them".

Killer Croc's lip rose in a snarl "Why would I help you, Luthor?".

Luthor sighed and motioned towards one of his black clad body guards. The burly man stepped forward and threw a brown briefcase towards Killer Croc. It landed on the damp grass with a soft thump and Killer Croc stared at it apprehensively.

"Consider it a trade" Luthor explained.

Clawed hands reached out and flipped the latch on the case before lifting the lid. Piles of notes lay before him and his eyes widened. "And I'm sure the police won't notice a few people missing if you need some more money. That is, if I pull a few strings. So what do you say. Money for information?".

The lid closed with a form snap and Killer Croc grinned, his teeth glinting menacingly. "What do you want to know?".

A smirk appeared on Luthor's face. "The new girls. There are two?".

Killer Croc snorted "You got that right, Luthor. Two girls. And neither of them were human".

"Are you sure?"

A deep growl erupted from Killer Croc's throat "Do you humans usually burst into flames or sprout wing?!".

Luthor coughed in slight nervousness, though he hid it well "What did they look like?" He asked, one hand pressed to his chin in thought.

"One was red. Hair, eyes, skin. You name it. She was the one who decided to combust" The reptilian spat.

"And the other?"

"Pale. Pale skin, eyes. Light purple hair. She had wings though. Silver ones. Like a fairy. Strangest thing about her was the way she seemed to know I was coming. Went for the boy and she pushed him out of the way. Took the blow herself. That enough?".

Luthor smiled. "More than enough thank you. Good luck with your condition" Luthor said as he walked away. One of his body guards opened the door for him and he paused before he got in "Oh by the way" He sneered "Have you tried moisturizer?".

Killer Croc snarled at him fiercely before the businessman got in his car and it swiftly drove off, leaving the reptilian man in darkness with enough money for a few months of testing.


	5. Life On Earth

Connor and Theresa reached the bioship first. Theresa's silver eyes searched the ship desperately and she gasped when she realised that Lourina hadn't been brought back. Having fought Killer Croc and driven him off, her heart sank at the horror that her friend had not been with him. She could only imagine what Killer Croc had done to Lourina.

"Where is she? Have the others found her?" Theresa asked, allowing a small degree of hope to grip her.

Kaldur stood up and looked from Miss Martian to Artemis. Neither went to comment so he told Theresa what had happened in his calm tone.

"Robin contacted us. He said Lourina was exposed to water and is currently conscious but the boys are confident that there are going to be no long term effects."

Theresa calmed slightly and asked Connor to put her down. Connor paused, remembering the look of the cut on Theresa's leg. He silently moved over to a chair and put her down. She looked up and him and rolled her eyes.

"You're being overprotective." she scolded.

She got up off her chair and went to move towards Connor as he walked away. As soon as she put weight on her bag leg, she paled and stumbled. Connor turned and caught the Jupitian in his strong arms, carrying her back over to the seat and sitting her back down. He guessed that Theresa was going to try and stand again if he wasn't there so he sat down and listened to Theresa talking. The Jupitian was trying to distract herself from the wait but it was very hard as every second seemed to take hours. She hadn't had to depend on anyone other than Lourina since the start of the war and not knowing made her feel unsure of herself.

Kaldur moved towards the control seat of the bioship. Miss Martian was still there, not attempting to move from where she was sitting. She was staring at Connor and Theresa as they talked.

"If it had been me out there with her then I wouldn't have gotten injured by Killer Croc." Miss Martian said through the mind link.

"You have been tested in the field. For all we know, this is the first time they have had to use their powers in a fight for their lives." Kaldur reasoned, happy that M'gann had chosen a subtle way to complain. "And it is not a secret that they have both seemed to struggle using their powers. They will get used to Earth and its strange atmosphere."

Miss Martian glared at Theresa for a few seconds. She told Kaldur that they hardly knew anything about the pair and that they were probably there to cause problems within the group.

"You and Artemis just need to spend more time with them and see what you have in common."

Miss Martian was about to reply when a yellow and red blur came running in. The blur stopped by the chair next to Theresa and settled Lourina into the chair next to the Jupitian. Lourina smiled weakly at the others and pulled Robin's cape further around her shoulders, still looking cold. She wasn't quite as wet as she had been and her body temperature was rising but she still looked pale.

"Lourina!" Theresa said, turning to her friend. "Are you okay? Can you walk? What did Killer Croc do to you?"

Lourina looked around the team and blushed, her cheeks instantly drying from the sudden heat. She felt embarrassed. The reason she and Theresa had been getting shot at before they crashed was because she had been captured and now she had got herself kidnapped in a fight and made everything even more complex for the others.

"I'm sorry. I..."

"Killer Croc just wanted to keep you around for longer." Kid Flash told Lourina as Robin ran in through the bioship doors. "And I can understand why, given how cute..."

"So Lourina," Artemis interrupted. "what happened? How come you got captured?"

"I was just... He didn't react when I used my fire and... Then he threw me in this dirty water and I started to black out and..."

Her words quickened up and she looked at the others as she stopped. Robin told them that the exposure to the water had had the effect of lowering Lourina's core body temperature and, to compensate, her body had begun to shut down so all the energy could be used for generating heat.

"So crashing into a planet that is mostly water might have not been your best move." Artemis remarked.

Lourina ignored her, catching sight of the large gash on Theresa's leg.

"What's that?" Lourina gasped, suddenly concerned for her friend.

Theresa explained and then looked at the team. Miss Martian had at some point during the story begun to fly the bioship back to the base to distract herself from the looks Connor was giving Theresa.

"You must think we're weak. Our powers keep going haywire and we can't battle a guy like Killer Croc." she said.

Kid Flash reacted at super speed, shaking his head.

"Of course not. If I had crash landed on Venus or Jupiter then I would be a bit off. We all would."

The boys were all quick to agree, trying to make the new girls feel accepted.

"You would probably all be dead. Venus averages at 96 Casmina and Jupiter reaches -26 Casmina." Lourina said. "Both of which would instantly kill a human and probably anyone else."

The team clearly didn't understand her measurement of temperature so looked at Miss Martian for help.

"Venus' average temperature is 864 degrees Fahrenheit. Jupiter's is -234 degrees Fahrenheit. One Casmina degree is nine degrees Fahrenheit." Miss Martian said.

The temperatures still seemed a lot and the haunting idea of the harsh environments that the girls has become accustomed to left the journey back slightly cold.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"What happened?" Zatanna asked as the team left the bioship.

Connor was helping Theresa walk and Lourina was still wrapped in Robin's cape, shivering slightly.

"Connor, do you want to take Theresa to the medical centre?" Kaldur asked. "Robin, do you feel that Lourina should go with them?"

Robin shook his head and told the others that Lourina was just cold and that he would get her a spare pair of clothes.

"I think that Artemis and M'gann would be happy to let her borrow some of hers, won't you?" Kaldur asked, turning to Artemis and M'gann.

The look he gave them suggested that they didn't really get a choice so both nodded, somewhat reluctantly. Robin smiled and led the Venusian off to get new clothes. Wally was about to rush after them when Kaldur blocked his path with his arm.

"Someone has to give a recap of the mission and you are the only one of us who was actually their for the original fight and went into the sewers."

"Yeah, sorry, right." Wally said as he watched Robin and Lourina disappearing down the corridor.

He turned to go to give the report when Kaldur stopped him once again. "And after that, you should have a shower."

Wally looked down at his bright costume and realised the state he was in. He could remember slipping over in the sewers a couple of times but he had been so focused on finding Lourina that he hadn't realised that his costume had turned slightly brown and he actually stunk hopelessly.

He quickly nodded and supersped off to hide his blush. Kaldur watched them go and then said to Zatanna that he had some idea of what they had to do that next day.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

They had spent about half an hour in the laundry room and the Boy Wonder had finally found clothes for the girls to wear. Robin slipped the clothes he was giving Lourina into a plastic bag to stop them from getting covered in the waste the girl was covered in. He had been trying to think of a way that the girl could get herself clean without getting wet. She was no longing dripping but there were still very dirty smudges all over her and the clothes she was wearing the clothes she had crashed on Earth in. They seemed to be fireproof. Allowing her to use her powers but it couldn't be comfortable to wear the same clothes over and over without them being washed.

He had sorted out three pairs of clothes for each girl. Some clothes for them to wear before they went to bed, some pyjamas and then a pair of clothes for them to wear the next day. Although he had mostly stolen from Artemis and M'gann, he had not found anything warm for either girl in their clothes so had improvised. He had taken two jumpers, one belonging to Connor and the other belonging to Wally. He didn't think that they would mind too much if he let the girls wear them, especially since he was pretty sure Wally had a thing for Lourina and he was beginning to suspect Connor had a thing for Theresa as well.

"How are you going to get clean?" Robin inquired.

Lourina paused, smirked, and slipped off Robin's cape, handing it back to the boy. Robin was only thankful he was wearing gloves. He had managed to stay mostly clean during the trip into the sewers but his cape had not. He quickly threw it into one of the nearby washing machines and decided that he would have the uniforms collected up and all washed together.

Suddenly Lourina began to blaze. Robin was shocked at the sudden blast of heat but didn't react. Then Lourina let the fire go out and Robin smiled.

"Clever, burning away all the bacteria and the dirt." he remarked.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Lourina slipped into the medical room wearing Wally's hooded jacket, one of Artemis' t-shirts and a pair of the archer's jeans. Robin had ran off with her spacesuit, saying that it would be useful in making fire-proof synthetics. She had the hood pulled up but it was clearly her. In her hand was the plastic bag full of Theresa's temporary clothes. Connor was already in the medical room, pacing slightly. His hair was slightly wet, suggesting he had been turfed out for a wash by the medics. Theresa was sitting on the medical bench, Batman's trusted medic Agent A (Alfred), checking her stitches.

"You were very lucky, Miss Theresa." Agent A remarked, helping the girl off the medical table. "If that criminal had managed anything deeper than a glancing blow, you might not have gotten off so lightly."

"Stitches is not lightly." Lourina warned the medic.

Agent A was used to working under the constant comments of Batman about Robin's injuries but there was something very strange about having and Kryptonian and a Venusian studying every thing he had done.

"It is, Miss Lourina, considering what she might have received from Mr Jones."

Connor moved towards Theresa and watched as she went to walk. She stumbled slightly and, with speed that the Flash would envy, Connor caught her. He held out his arm and let her link arms with him so he could support her.

"You need to go and rest." he said. "You should both go and rest."

He didn't look at Lourina, his shining blue shards fixed on Theresa, but she nodded.

"You need to go and wash." Theresa said as Connor walked her out of the medical room.

"I've had four washes already." Connor moaned.

Lourina rolled her eyes as she followed the couple down the corridor. After Connor had dropped Theresa off at the medical centre, Robin had almost had to break out the kryptonite to get the boy into the showers.

"You still smell." Theresa smiled, lightly.

Agent A watched them go and then looked at the rest of the room. He could see patches where the metal had been deformed and left with finger impressions as the young man had been nervous during the medical examination. Agent A smiled at the sight and began to pack his things away.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Theresa examined her stitches with a frown. She was going to go to sleep off the injury. Lourina had gone off to her room to turn the heating up to maximum and warm herself up.

"Are all Earth villains like that?" Theresa asked, stretching out her leg.

"Not all of them. Some are much worse." Connor said, moving to sit beside her.

Theresa laughed and pushed him away, saying that with him smelling like that, he wasn't allowed to sit on her bed.

"You don't smell much better." Connor stated.

Theresa blushed as she realised that she smelt as bad as Connor. Wally appeared in the doorway, his hair damp from a shower. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"Have you seen my jumper?" he asked., frowning. "I put it in the wash and..."

"Lourina is wearing it." Connor stated, plainly.

Wally paused and then muttered something about Robin. He then looked at Connor. "Kaldur wants to have a word with us all."

Connor didn't even move. He didn't care what Kaldur had to say. The team's leader would probably just spend his time talking about how the team had performed and how they needed to work on fitting Theresa and Lourina into the team's dynamic. When the Speedster saw his friend had no intention of moving, he continued.

"Connor, as much as anyone wants to spend time with someone as cute as Theresa, we're talking about what we're going to do tomorrow." Wally announced. "Rumour is Robin is going to break out the Bat-cash."

Connor nodded and looked at Theresa, he felt guilty about leaving her. Wally went to go and then moved back to look into the room.

"You should go." Theresa said.

Connor didn't move for a few seconds. Theresa rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Go on, you big softy!" she said before swing round and lying back on her bed.

Connor left with Wally and Theresa found herself smiling up at the ceiling.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"We definitely need to work on team building. Lourina and Theresa may not be full superheroes but they are currently our guests and we must work to make them feel welcome." Kaldur said as Connor and Wally walked in.

"They definitely need to have a trip out to buy clothes. They can't just keep borrowing mine and M'gann's." Artemis grumbled.

Wally and Connor took their seats and Wally smirked. "Is this just a ruse for you to make us all go clothes shopping?" The ginger teenager asked.

Artemis huffed and grumbled once more. Robin said he agreed with Artemis and that it was a small problem. He said that it could easily be remedied but there was one small problem.

"A small red problem." Kaldur agreed.

"If Venusians and Martians were not so much rivals like we really are, then she might have had Martian blood and the ability to shapeshift." M'gann said.

Kaldur got the team's attention and detected it towards Zatanna. She suggested that she could cast a spell that allowed Lourina to appear human for a few hours.

"I won't be able to do it every time she has to leave. I need to have my own life but it might be possible for my da... For Doctor Fate, to create a device, a pendant or something, that allows her to control when she changes her skin colour to a more Earthly colour." Zatanna said.

The team talked about it for a few seconds. They could see how it would be a good idea but they had a few questions, involving if her powers would be affected and if there were situations that the magic might backfire on them and make Lourina extremely obvious.

Zatanna couldn't see how it would be a problem so they all agreed.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Are you sure about this?" Lourina asked nervously, her gaze flicking from Zatanna to Theresa and then to the others in the group.

When Kaldur had approached her and asked if she would feel comfortable with having a spell cast on her so she could go out in public. However, since the time for the spell had come, she felt very nervous. It didn't help that Wally, and the other boys, weren't there to reassure her. (Wally was off 'getting ready' and Robin and Connor were trying to drag him away from whatever he was eating.)

"I haven't done the spell before." Zatanna said, truthfully. "But I've seen it done lots of times and I won't do anything drastic like try and change your eye colour or something."

"Just my skin." Lourina muttered. She had met magicians and had encountered magic before. On Venus, her father had several magicians on hand to perform for him. She didn't feel like she would be confident trying to do one of their spells. What Zatanna was saying wasn't the most reassuring thing in the world.

"Later on we will try and get you a form of pendant or something so you can change your skin colour at your own request." Kaldur said.

"But that doesn't help us now." Artemis reasoned.

"The spell won't be permanent." Zatanna assured her friend. "A couple of hours. A little while longer maybe."

"How long?" Lourina asked, still struggling to get to grip with the Earth time system.

"A few simal." M'gann said, shifting to her Earth girl form. She smiled and Lourina turned to Theresa.

_"Do you think it would work?" _Lourina asked in Venusian.

_"We don't have much choice."_ Theresa reasoned.

_"On your head be it." _Lourina said. _"And if it does go wrong, then you have the wonderful job of explaining to the rest of the universe why the Venusian princess was turned into a frog or something."_

Lourina turned to Zatanna and gave her a nod. Zatanna cast the spell with a nervous smile and a series of swirls of red light began to circle the Venusian. Artemis hoped it wouldn't work but her hopes were squashed when Lourina was revealed with skin roughly the same colour as Theresa's. Her hair was still it's normal bright red but it could be mistaken to have been dyed. Her eyes still glinted red but they were much less noticeable and, if worst came to worst, it would easily be solved by a pair of sunglasses.

Wally, Robin and Connor chose that moment to walk in. For a few seconds, Wally didn't recognise her. "Hey, who's the hottie we're... Lourina?"

"Hello, Wally, look what I look like now!" Lourina beamed.

Wally scanned the Venusian and smiled approvingly. "The red skin was hotter but I can't fault this." he said, moving closer.

"So, clothes shopping?" M'gann said, bubbling with excitement.

The teenagers nodded and went to leave. Then Martian Manhunter hurried in as is he was hoping to catch the teenagers. "Lourina, Theresa, Kaldur, is it possible for me to have a word?" Martian Manhunter asked.

Kaldur nodded and told the team that they would catch up. Lourina and Theresa hurried over to the Martian, wanting to catch up with their friends as soon as possible.

"What's wrong?" Theresa asked, noting a concern look on Martian Manhunter's face as he surveyed them.

"As the League has agreed to shelter you on Earth, they felt that it would be appropriate that we had at least some knowledge of your cultures and your interplanetary quarrel." Martian Manhunter said, leading the trio towards a screen.

Kaldur noticed that the two girls had offered each other nervous glances and Lourina had muttered something accusing at Theresa in a language that Kaldur guessed was one of their alien ones. Martian Manhunter keyed something in and an image of the girls on an alien planet flashed up. Kaldur looked at it. The girls were dressed in fine alien clothes – clothes that M'gann had once shown him and told him that were the alien version of designer brands. Theresa was dressed in a flowing red dress that seemed caught in a gentle breeze. Lourina was wearing a blue dress in a similar style but hers was longer, running along the ground and too weighted to get caught in a breeze. On Theresa's head there was a delicate silver crown with a large red ruby embedded in the centre and on Lourina's there was a crown of red metal encrusted with yellow and orange jewels.

"What is this?" Kaldur asked, looking first from the girls to Martian Manhunter.

The Martian's eyes had settled on the two teenaged girls who refused to make eye contact for a few seconds.

"It's a picture." Lourina finally said. "Of me and Theresa. While we was on one of Jupiter's moons for a peace treaty."

It wasn't a lie. Her father had refused to let her go to a peace treaty on Jupiter and Theresa's father had been more than willing to risk a Venusian kidnapping as a way of getting rid of the unwanted heiress. They had met up for the third time since they had met and signed the peace treaty which had ultimately fallen apart when neither king had followed what their daughters had agreed to.

"Why are you wearing crowns?" Kaldur asked, calmly.

He knew the royalty sometimes became superheroes. His own king was his heroic mentor but he didn't want the teenagers lying to him or the rest of the team. They had had enough of lies within the group.

"Because we're..." Lourina began.

Theresa slapped her in the arm and hissed at her "_Don't you dare!"_

_"We have to tell him! For all the lava on Ishtar Terra, I don't want to get kicked off Earth."_ Lourina hissed back.

Theresa went to reply but then she stopped. She didn't want to get thrown off the planet or wrestled down to whatever prison the League thought could hold them. She took a deep breath and looked at Martian Manhunter and Kaldur.

"You tell no one, promise?"

Kaldur nodded and told the two that he and the Martian promised.

"M'gann was right. We are the princesses of Venus and Jupiter. Our parents have started a war against each other which meant we would have had to become enemies. The war was terrifying, too many people dying on both sides and we couldn't help. So we ran away and the war still continued and we're being hunted and you're going to kick us off Earth and..." Theresa trailed off when she looked at Kaldur and Martian Manhunter. The two heroes shook their heads.

"You should have made us aware of your situation but we're not going to 'kick you off Earth'." Martian Manhunter told them.

"And you won't tell Wally and the others?" Lourina inquired, staring at the picture as if it was a ghost.

Kaldur told the girls that their secret was safe with him and got Martian Manhunter to shut down the image. He told Martian Manhunter that, for the safety of the teenagers, it should stay just between the four of them and Martian Manhunter quickly agreed. Kaldur watched as Lourina and Theresa hurried away. He shrugged. He didn't see why the teenagers had been so worried about that coming out.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The shopping centre was in Metropolis. They had decided upon there because most of the Metropolis villains were either out of town (even Luthor was on a business trip to Gotham) or in prison. Lourina and Theresa looked around the shopping centre. Walking down a normal human street in the sun had been an experience for them but being in the shopping centre was something totally new.

"It's good to be out of the sun." Theresa muttered, informing the others that the gas cloud on Jupiter meant she really saw the sun and that it was actually slightly painful to be out in the sun for too long. Suddenly she became distracted by the bright colours of the shops, the strange new patterns of the clothing and the interesting objects that could be seen through sheets of glass. She looked at her friend and both smiled with excitement.

"This place is amazing!" Theresa mused.

Lourina nodded and looked at the team. They were all dressed in normal clothes, Robin wearing a pair of sunglasses. Lourina had briefly wondered if he has a strange eye colour like her but Wally had told her that he was completely human.

"We stay in contact and the rules are two of us with each of the girls at one time." Kaldur said, laying down the base rules.

He had considered having M'gann mindlink them but he thought that was overkill. Everyone had their mobile phones on them (except the girls but they didn't own phones so it wasn't possible) so there was really no reason for it.

"We are here primarily for clothes but shoes, coats, winter clothing and other luxury items might be needed if we are going to try and make the girls feel at home." Kaldur finished.

M'gann had already grabbed Robin, the boy with the money, by the arm and was leading him towards a clothes shop.

"Would you care to accompany me?" Wally asked, holding out his arm so Lourina could link arms with him.

She frowned at the gesture, unfamiliar with it, and turned to Theresa, grabbing her friend by the hand and running off in the direction of the shop that M'gann had dragged Robin into. The team paused and then hurried after them.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"How do we look?" Theresa asked, walking out in a pair of casual blue jeans and a black and grey stripy long sleeved top.

Lourina was behind her and was wearing a red t-shirt, a black hooded jacket and a pair of dark jeans. Both girls smiled and looked expectantly at their friends, waiting for their replies. Of course it was Wally who talked first.

"Lourina, you look smokin' and..." He turned to Theresa, offering Connor a quick wink as he did so. "You, lady of lightening, look electrifying."

"Thank you, Wally." Lourina smiled, nestling back into the black jacket.

She still stood by her decision that Earth was too cold. Robin picked up another handful of clothes from the four baskets they had. They hadn't even moved onto shoes but the pile of bags was growing fast.

From what the group could tell, both girls had very set styles. Neither were particularly feminine and both liked to cover themselves as much as possible, Lourina to keep from the cold and Theresa to keep out of the sun. M'gann suddenly came running in, holding two dresses. Both were casual summer dresses. One was blue with white lace. The other was red with a black belt of fabric.

"You would look so cute in these!" M'gann said, jealously forgotten as she got caught up in the 'joys' of shopping.

Both girls studied the dresses with looks of slight disgust. They shifted nervously and then looked at M'gann, trying to think of polite ways to turn down the dresses.

"They're really nice but..." Theresa began to look around for inspiration.

"Earth's cold enough as it is for me and Theresa can't take too much exposure to sunlight." Lourina quickly blurted out.

M'gann frowned but told the girls it was alright. She went to go and put the dresses back.

"For the record, you two, I think you both would have lots gorgeous in those dresses." Wally said as they watched M'gann move away.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Connor and Kaldur were carrying most of the bags while the others had spent their time running around and collecting clothes. Robin had brought himself a new pair of sunglasses and convinced Wally to do the same.

"Can you take them off?" Artemis moaned as Wally collided with a potted plant.

He shook his head with a sigh.

"You're going to break something." The archer added.

Wally shook his head, moving to hit into a group of small children. Lourina steered the speedster away from them and sighed. "Are you going to take those off?" she asked.

"Are you really that desperate to gaze into my magnificent eyes?" Wally asked, removing the shades.

Lourina smiled and turned away, walking on. Wally looked back at Robin and raised an eyebrow.

Theresa's stomach suddenly made itself known and she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Um...Do you humans have a third meal or...?"

"In America, we generally eat three meals a day. It is roughly lunch time, the second meal of the day." Kaldur explained.

Theresa nodded and they noticed Wally rushing over at something close to normal speed.

"Did someone mention food?" he asked.

Kaldur nodded. Wally began to vibrate with excitement and then raced back over to Lourina, leading her back to the group.

"Now we are going to introduce you two to the greatest wonder of the human race." Wally announced.

He threw open his arm and spun round to draw attention to the large variety of fast food restaurants that surrounded them. Lourina and Theresa studied the bright signs and savoured the rich smells.

"Food." Wally smirked. "Especially fast food."

There was silence as the team watched the girls. Both were looking around in awe and confusion. The girls then shifted so they were looking at each other. They began to babble quickly in their own languages, trying to link the restaurants with foods they knew from other planets but they both came to the conclusion that Earth foods were mostly very different from alien ones.

"What foods do your cultures see as delicacies?" Kaldur asked.

The girl's paused and M'gann, sensing their confusion, translated for them mentally.

"On Venus, we eat good that would burn you humans out of your mouths." Lourina said, stumbling slightly over her words.

Wally turned to Robin and raised his eyebrow. He seemed excited at the very idea of food and it had seemed to have gotten his mind racing at a hundred miles an hour, making sure he got food as soon as possible.

"Should we try curry?" he asked.

Lourina nodded at the strange word, trusting that the team wouldn't purposefully try to poison her. She glanced at her friend. The Jupitian was not a big fan of Venusian foods, refusing to eat anything when Lourina offered it. She thought that they were painful to touch, let alone eat. Then again Jupitian foods were dull and cold for a Venusian. Connor had noticed the look between to two and understood Theresa's reluctance. He wasn't a big fan of spicy food either.

"I think we should try something else as well." Connor said.

The team nodded, not very big fans of curry and not overly excited about the proposition of watching Wally attempt to eat and flirt at the same time. Wally shrugged, grabbed Lourina's hand and led her off towards the curry place. Robin watched them go from behind his shades and then said he would go as well.

"We can't let him buy all the food in the restaurant like the last time we took him out." Robin said, moving off.

The team watched him go and then turned to Theresa.

"So where now?" Artemis asked.

"There's burger places and Chinese restaurants and pizza places and..."

"I know just the place." Connor said, looking straight at Theresa.

M'gann frowned, angry at being ignored. She watched as Connor led Theresa off and felt her anger begin to swell inside her.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"So what do these shapes mean?" Lourina asked, looking at the menu.

Robin looked over his at Lourina and saw what she was pointing at. "It's a scale." he explained. "Five of those means it's the hottest you can get, one means it's mild."

Lourina nodded and looked back at the menu. She took in all of the words and sighed, some of them were easy to understand but she was struggling to grasp fluent English and the menu seemed to keep dipping between English and another language she didn't understand. Robin looked back at his menu but watched his friends out of the corner of his eye. Wally had insisted on sitting opposite Lourina at their four person table. The speedster, having already decided what he was going to order, was watching Lourina over his menu, hoping neither his friends would notice. Robin, who was sitting next to Lourina, smirked into his menu.

"So I order something with a five next to it?" Lourina asked.

"If you're brave enough." Wally said. "But you don't need hot food, you're hot enough as it is."

Lourina smiled shyly and ducked back behind her menu to hide the sudden patches of red on her cheeks. She had been reliably informed that when humans were embarrassed their cheeks went red – something she hadn't needed to worry about in her natural red skinned form.

A waiter came over and collected their order. Both boys ordered milkshakes with their curries while Lourina didn't order a drink. After the fight with Killer Croc, she was still on edge about Earth liquids and their effects on her. She hadn't had anything to drink since she had been on Earth. Venusians could go a long time without drinking but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she got overly thirsty and was forced to leave Earth simply to stop herself from dehydrating.

"You are going to have to drink something eventually." Robin said, drawing her out of her thoughts. "What did you drink on Venus?"

"I don't... You don't have the plants on Earth."

"But we might have something similar."

Lourina paused and thought back. It hurt to think back to the happier days on Venus. She could remember one day when her nanny, a woman called Posran, had taken her outside the palace to a farm. She had asked a farmer to cut down a few large, heavy fruits from his field and cracked open the shell, explaining that they drunk the green liquid inside.

Lourina found herself biting her lip at the memories of Posran. Given that Posran was probably the most likely person to have know where Lourina had fled to when the war had started, Lourina guessed her father had had her old nanny arrested. She hoped Posran had told him that Lourina had gone to Mercury as that was all the nanny had known and that her father had gone easy on her but... Lourina knew Posran too well to think that the nanny would have told the king anything. She forced the memories from her mind, simply remembering the taste of the liquid and the look of the fruit.

"The fruit had been bowl like and filled with this nice green liquid but it was like water is to you." Lourina said, trying to mask her sadness. She recapped the story, leaving out the details that would alert the boys to her being a princess, telling it was her mother who had taken her to the farm from their house.

"Do you miss Venus?" Wally asked, not fooled by Lourina's act.

He reached out across the table to touch Lourina's hand. It still held it's normal burning warmth and made Wally smile. He was surprised when Lourina twisted her hand to her fingers brushed absent-mindedly across the cool palm of his hand. Robin watched the exchange between the two and used his skills to slip away, letting them have some time alone. Wally watched as Lourina nodded sadly at his question and then listened as she told him that Venus had been a beautiful place.

"Almost as beautiful as you?" Wally asked, gaining a smile.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Connor had lead the group towards a secluded Chinese just a little way off. They walked in and Theresa found herself smiling at the strange new designs around her. Connor watched her smile and couldn't help smiling back. He lead the group over to a table that was far enough from the entrance that you couldn't been seen by everyone passing by but close enough that, if you wanted to, you could watch the people going past.

They all dumped their shopping bags and then went to queue for their food. Theresa knew how things like that worked. Yes, as a princess as she had been able to jump queues but, since the war had started, her and Lourina had needed to eat. Sometimes they had lived off space station food. It was harder for Venusians to blend in so Theresa had brought all the food while Lourina had kept out of sight. When she was in the queue however, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll order something for you. You should rest your leg." Connor said.

Although Theresa would never let the others know, the stitches had been hurting her a bit and the wound was sore. She didn't want to make it seem like she couldn't cope however.

"It'll be fine." Connor added, noticing that Theresa had been unsure about it.

She nodded and moved away, listening to Connor telling the others that she had gone to make sure the bags weren't taken. She sat down and smiled as she could finally take some weight off of her leg. She paused and waited until the others moved over after ordering. M'gann sat down next to Theresa, trying to be civil but it was hard when Connor sat down on Theresa's other side.

"That top you brought was so cute." Artemis congratulated Theresa as she sat down.

Theresa smiled and thanked her but she really wanted to talk to Connor. "Why did you choose this place, Connor?" she asked.

"Well, you seem to like other cultures and languages and..." Connor trailed off.

Theresa nodded while looking around the very traditional Chinese restaurant. Kaldur's phone began to ran and he frowned at it, announcing to the group it was Robin.

He moved away to take the call as M'gann turned to Connor. "I thought you didn't like using chopsticks." she said. "You say they snap too easily."

Connor frowned but didn't say anything. Artemis sighed and looked at Zatanna. The magician was smiling to herself.

"What's up, Zatanna?"

"I'm just amazed at what we're doing. Three aliens, one Atlantean, an archer and a magician were having lunch in a Chinese restaurant." Zatanna said.

Kaldur came over and began to recap to the others what the call with Robin had been about. "He's feeling like he is the 'third wheel' with Wally and Lourina." Kaldur said.

Theresa watched as Artemis flushed with anger and the other two girls began to ask questions about what was happening with the others. Theresa looked at Connor and smiled.

"So what is your favourite thing about Earth so far?" Connor asked.

Theresa thought for a few moments. She had been to so many different planets and couldn't truthfully say that Earth was the most beautiful but it had a different beauty to it. "It's so... alone. I'm here and I don't feel like I have to worry about anyone finding us because no one on Earth is going to contact anyone from Venus or Jupiter or anywhere else and no one is going to check Earth for me and Lourina." Theresa said. "I can relax."

Connor paused and thought for a few seconds. He was aware of the other members of the team on the phone to Robin. Robin had sent a picture of Wally reaching across the table to hold hands with Lourina to Kaldur and Artemis had muttered something mean about Lourina. Now the questions were mostly coming from Robin, asking why Artemis had said what she had. He didn't care what they were up to. His focus was on Theresa.

"Why are they after you? Are you experiments or soldiers or...?"

Theresa frowned. She had let it slip that people were looking for her and Lourina. Connor just made her so calm. She felt like she could trust him. "Lourina and me, we played some big roles in preventing wars and now this one's started, people might not be too happy with us. Now we're on Earth, we'll be left alone, with hope, but if someone finds out we're here, they'll come after us." Theresa explained, quickly. It wasn't a big lie. They had played big roles in stopping wars. They had actually met at a peace treaty and Lourina had spent most of her childhood trying to get peace treaties signed because her family weren't the most reasonable people in the universe.

Connor nodded, thoughtfully. He had a feeling something wasn't right but he wasn't going to push too hard. He wouldn't like it if people kept asking him questions about what was bothering him. He guessed, and hoped, that Theresa would open up to him when she was ready.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Their food had come and Robin was surprised to find Wally and Lourina had ordered the same thing. He guessed it was Wally's way of convincing Lourina they would make a good couple and his suspicions were confirmed when Wally pointed out that he had ordered the same thing as Lourina.

"We must be made for each other." Wally said, taking a causal sip of his milkshake.

Robin rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was smiling however as they all started their meals.

"So what do you think of curry?" Wally asked between his rushed mouthfuls.

"Venusian food's hotter but this can do." Lourina smiled, eating the hottest thing on the menu.

Robin became aware of the waiters watching them and frowned. He was never truly off duty and he was worried that they had recognised him as Dick Grayson or realised Lourina was an alien. He looked at Wally and realised why they had suddenly become the centre of attention. "Wally, I think you should slow down." Robin advised, quietly.

Wally shook his head but his cheeks were going red and Robin could see beads of sweat forming across the teenager's forehead. "I'm used to handling hot things, aren't I, Lourina?" Wally smirked, breathlessly.

Lourina was beginning to get concerned. She watched Wally with confusion and worry in her red eyes.

"Robin, Wally's forehead is crying." she hissed, urgently.

Finally Wally broke, giving into the heat. He began to pant, fanning his mouth at superspeed.

"What's happening to him?" Lourina asked, nervously.

Robin could hear the worry in the girl's voice. She had probably never seen anyone like that and the Boy Wonder was slightly annoyed at Wally for making such a scene on Lourina's first 'human' outing. He knew the speedster had just been trying to show off.

Robin pushed Wally's milkshake towards him with a sense of urgency. He could feel waves of heat coming off the Venusian at his side as she began to panic for her friend. Wally scrambled for the milkshake, lifting the straw to his lips and taking large refreshing gulps. He began to calm and his cheeks began to pale. Robin smiled and was aware that the waiters, almost disappointed at the lack of show, moved back to their duties.

"Sorry about that, Lourina." Wally said, seeing the confusion on the girl's face.

He put his milkshake down on the table only for it to be snatched by Lourina. She stared at the liquid inside with a look of confusion. "Does this drink have..." She crumpled her face as she looked for the right word but stopped, shook her head and continued to stare at the milkshake.

"Does this drink make a person heal?" she asked.

Robin looked at Wally but the speedster was still fanning his mouth slightly and staring down at his curry as if it had attacked him. "In a way it does." Robin said. "It doesn't actually heal but... It's cooling and... Well, try some."

Lourina looked nervously at the brown chocolate flavored liquid and took a deep breath. She brushed the plastic straw to the side and took a small sip from the cup. When she pulled back, she looked confused but a smile began to grow. "It tastes like my drink, my Venusian drink." she smiled.

Wally got up and moved away. Robin and Lourina guessed he was going to try and finish getting rid of the taste of the curry.

"It's milkshake. An Earth drink and... Coconuts!" Robin gasped. "The drink you had, the way to described it makes it sound like coconut milk. You like milk?"

Lourina nodded and swirled the word around in her mouth for a few seconds, getting used to it. She smiled and put Wally's drink back. She turned to Robin, aware that Robin had been ordering and paying for the food. "Can you get me one?" she asked.

"No need." Wally said returning. He put a second straw in his milkshake and guided Lourina's hand so she put the milkshake back on the table. He then took his own straw and began to drink. Lourina paused and then reached forwards, drinking from the second straw.

Robin watched the pair silently. _'Oh, Lourina. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into.' _he thought.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Theresa smiled at the food. It was good and she thought Connor had made a good call. She had mastered chopsticks within a few seconds and was aware of M'gann using her telekinesis to move the food onto her chopsticks and keep it on. Kaldur was struggling with the chopsticks but his calm and patience was winning and he was slowly managing it. Zatanna and Artemis seemed to have had practise and were eating their food with ease. Theresa was aware of Connor eating his food slowly and getting more and more annoyed every time a piece dropped off. He couldn't get the hang of the chopsticks. Theresa sighed. She was used to frustrating tasks and dealing with stubborn people, from the amounts of times she'd had to deal with horrible palace guards treating her people terribly, so she put down her chopsticks and quietly got Connor's attention, letting the others continue to talk around her. It wasn't like she could join in the conversation. She had never heard of the films they were discussing and it had taken her part of the conversation to work out what a film was.

"Connor, like this." she said, demonstrating how to use chopsticks.

Connor tried it but he dropped the food back onto the plate seconds later. He looked like he was going to storm off at any minute.

"You don't really like Chinese, do you?" Theresa asked, getting Connor to stop and try to calm down.

"No!." he snapped.

"Then why did you pick it?" She asked timidly, pushing her chow mein around her plate with her chopsticks.

"Because this is the only place that I thought would be interesting for you." Connor told her.

Theresa found herself blushing and looked away for a few seconds. She paused and looked back at Connor. He was once again trying to pick up his food. "Lets try it this way." Theresa said.

She reached down and placed her hands on top of Connor's trying to mould them to the position she had found was best. For a few seconds, his strong Kryptonian hands refused to give into her nimble Jupitian ones, but Connor let her move his fingers to the right position. Theresa smiled at him as she pulled her hands away and Connor picked up part of his food.

"There you go. Easy as pears." she said.

Connor frowned at the mistaken phrase but didn't correct her. He tried again and managed it. Then he turned to Theresa and lifted a small dumpling from his plate and moved it towards her. "You should try this." he said.

Theresa frowned but opened her mouth and let him feed her it. It tasted okay but Theresa wasn't going to tell him that it just tasted okay. "It tastes brilliant." she said with a smile.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The group had met up again and disappeared into a shoe shop. "I have been beaten for information and even then this is the worse thing I've been through in my whole entire life." Lourina muttered, watching the human girls run around the store in a frenzy. The two were sat on a huddle of seats near a series of mirrors, watching the team browse.

Theresa laughed "Even worse than the time you caused that stampede of Skuts on Neptune and almost got us trampled?" She tried.

Lourina nodded.

"Even worse than..."

"Yes" Lourina insisted, not even giving her chance to finish the suggestion. They watched as everyone zoomed around to get the two of them shoes. Wally and Connor were looking in the trainers. Robin and Artemis were finding smart shoes. Kaldur, Zatanna and M'gann were going between the two.

"Even worse than that time when you had to meet the Plutonian King on Neptune and you had to be made up in that dress that took you four hours to put on and you wrecked it in five minutes?" Theresa asked.

"The people helping here are better." Lourina remarked, watching as Wally and Connor walked over.

Theresa looked from her friend to the boys. They were muttering between each other about something and Wally looked exciting. He hurried over to get Robin and Artemis followed him back.

Connor knelt down, holding out a shoe for Theresa to slip her foot into. The shoe fit simply and Connor smiled, looking up.

"You've got to say it, dude." Wally encouraged.

Connor sighed and looked at Theresa. "Cinderella, you shall go to the ball." Connor said in monotone.

Theresa smiled, raising an eyebrow playfully, and guessed that it was something considered to be romantic on Earth. Robin elbowed Wally in the ribs. "Something like that only works when at least one of them knows the story of Cinderella." Robin whispered.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"I think we should go home." Zatanna said, carrying a handful of bags. "I think the magic is wearing off."

Lourina's cheeks had gone permanently red and she was definitely not as pale as she had been.

"Yeah. We'd better get back." Artemis agreed.

The teenagers went to hurry back but it was hard progress with them all struggling with bags. As they walked along to the zeta-tubes, Robin and Theresa hung back. "If you two are going to keep crime fighting, you're going to need hero names and training. Thought of any names yet?" Robin asked. "Wait, are you even going to continue?"

"Try and stop us." Theresa scoffed, smirking.

She corrected her grip on the bags she was holding and watched as the group continued on ahead. She would probably never admit it but she felt more at home than she thought she would anywhere else in the universe. Jupiter would always be her home but she couldn't relax there and the others didn't have agendas. She had been excited by the idea of being able to be a normal teenager and this had been part of the reasoning behind not telling them that the two of them were princesses. "Me and Lourina were always getting into trouble during the war. We were magnets and, if we ever do have to leave Earth, knowing what we should do will be useful." Theresa said.

"So names? What about Tempest, Storm, Monsoon?"

"Monsoon's nice." Theresa remarked. "And Lourina could have a name after something fiery."

Robin thought for a few moments and then smiled. He turned to Theresa. "A while ago there was this fire manipulating hero called Firebrand. She turned out to be a robot but she was a hero." Robin said. "Maybe Lourina could adopt that name."

Theresa nodded and then the duo hurried to catch up with the others.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The clothes were unpacked and everyone was relaxing. It was getting late so everyone was getting ready to go to bed – except for Robin. He had been called to go on patrol with Batman.

Wally was waiting outside Lourina's room when she decided to go to bed. He seemed nervous and she was sure he was shaking so quickly his outline was slightly blurry. She smiled at him and greeted him with a nod. She was back in her red form and still wearing Wally's jumper. "I enjoyed today." he said with a smile. "Your company was amazing."

Lourina shifted nervously. She wasn't exactly sure how to react. "I liked it too." Lourina said, truthfully.

Wally began to relax and a genuine smile pulled at his mouth. "We should do it again sometime only..."

He raised his eyebrow and shot her a wink. Lourina didn't understand for a few seconds and then realised what he was suggesting. "Just the two of us?" she managed.

"That's what I was thinking."

Lourina paused, bit her lip and watched Wally for a few seconds. She knew he was a flirt – she knew enough English to understand that – but he was genuine and she had heard Theresa moan about Oza. Oza was too fake and Theresa said that was bad. Her Jupitian friend greatly despised the Prince, which was unusual for her nature. Lourina remembered one of Theresa's rants about the Mercurian heir when she said she was sure Oza was secretly working with her father against Natas. Theresa was sure Oza's fakeness was to hide a darker personality. Wally, however, was dumb, flirtatious and clumsy but he was willing to fight for what he wanted and to protect the people he cared about.

"Just the two of us." Lourina repeated. "Sounds good."

Wally grinned and moved away from Lourina's bedroom door. "Then goodnight, hot stuff. I'll see you in the morning."

Lourina disappeared inside her room and Wally began to walk away, sporting the biggest smile he had ever had.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Theresa stared up at the sky with a frown. The top of Mount Justice gave her a full view of the night sky and it's stars. She sat on a ledge, knees pulled to her chest, mindful of her stitches. The soft moonlight shone down on the Jupitian and seemed to make her lilac hair glow a silvery purple. Her wing patterns glowed silver and gave her an overall ethereal look. She loved it on Earth but there was always the haunting thoughts in the back of her mind that they were going to be found and dragged back into the war. She knew Lourina was used to the war but their new friends, Connor and the team would be pulled into the fight and, with hundreds of soldiers dying on the war fronts each day, a group of teenagers didn't matter.

"It's all Oza's fault. Him and that stupid marriage. If I wasn't going to be married then..." Theresa paused her bitter rant and looked back up at the sky. She could see a strange star in the night sky and realisation spread like a forest fire in her mind. She cursed and looked down from the sky.

"Jupiter." she muttered bitterly. She knew it was far away and the other planets couldn't be seen but in her mind it was so close, too close. "I wish on the stupid moon or whatever the humans wish upon that I had never met Oza and the war hadn't of started and I didn't land Lourina on such a cold planet…" Theresa let out a groan and shook her head. She knew that there was no point making that wish and she hated herself for even toying with the idea. Her fate was practically sealed if they were ever found. Firstly, her father would express his anger at her and then she would be taken to Mercury to spend the rest of her life as Oza's queen. Lourina wouldn't be as fortunate. Depending on who they were caught by, Lourina could be tortured to death. And Theresa couldn't bear the thought of that happening to her friend.

Then she heard a noise from behind her. She gasped and jumped to her feet, turning towards the sound, ready to summon a storm if she had to. A familiar blue eyed Kryptonian appeared in her line of sight. "Humans wish on stars." Connor asked, walking to stand in front of the Jupitian.

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding and allowed him to move closer. He didn't ask who Oza was despite the fact he had heard the name. He knew that he would be told when Theresa was ready or when the name became important. Connor was dressed in his usual shirt but had a brown jacket on over it. He looked up at the sky and picked out Jupiter.

"Lourina gets homesick when Venus is in the sky." he stated, looking at Theresa.

She knew what he was implying. He was suggesting she might be homesick. She wasn't. She loved Jupiter but she couldn't forget that her father was there and, for now, Earth was fine.

"I'm fine." she told him. Theresa kept looking up at the sky but felt a gentle pressure on her bare arms. She looked down and realised Connor had slipped his jacket over her shoulders.

"It's a cold night." he said as if it was an explanation.

Theresa smiled and nodded, agreeing. She nestled into Connor's jacket and peered up at him "Aren't you cold? If you are, you can have it back".

Connor shook his head "Kryptonians don't feel the cold as much as everyone else". He smiled at her slightly and the idea that he had given her his jacket still made Theresa's pale cheeks flush a gentle red. She turned away from him and walked towards the edge of the mountain.

"I've never really seen a night sky." She said, studying the dark screen dotted with bright lanterns that hung above them. "Not from a planet. Jupiter has a massive wall of gas and, on Mercu... on other planets I've been to, I was too busy to marvel at it. It's..."

She searched for the right word but couldn't find one that quite summed up the beauty of what was above her. She felt a slight pang of jealousy that Lourina and the team had grown up with the night sky hanging above them. She was so caught up in her thoughts that Connor's voice made her jump. Although she was no longer facing him, the sound of his voice told her he was right behind her.

"When the others saved me from Cadmus, the first thing I wanted to see was the sun and the sky. It was night time so the first thing I saw outside was the moon. It was... breath-taking."

They stood there in silence for a few moments, safe and supported in their shared awe of the night sky. Then Theresa became aware of a strange sensation from behind her. She looked back and realised that instead of staring at the wonder of the night, Connor was staring at her. It was as if he found her as breath-taking as the night sky that danced above.

A few seconds passed and Theresa spoke "I'm still cold." A small smile on her face as her gaze fell to the ground beneath them.

Connor shifted for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Then he slipped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her gently against his strong chest. Theresa felt her cheeks warm with a deeper blush but felt safe and warm in Connor's arms. She looked up at Connor's square chin and then looked out at Jupiter.

"Earth's fine at the moment." Theresa said softly, curling into him.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

High above, circling the Earth and tracking down a Jupitian ship that had been seen crashing through Earth's atmosphere, a Mercurian ship hung in the darkness. It's scanners began to trace for alien lifeforms, ignoring the human ones on the planet. It skipped past a Kryptonian life sign in a city called Metropolis and passed a few Martian life forms.

"We have found something of interest, sir." a Mercurian soldier said, turning his attention towards his commander.

The computer had picked out two life forms, both alien. They were standing outside together. The dark skinned Mercurian commander strode silently towards the screen and a smile split his lips. He tried to bottle up the hope inside of him until he was sure he knew exactly what they had found.

"Bring up a visual image." he barked.

He watched as the screen turned from a map to a image of two heads, one clearly belonged to a young man, the other to a young lady. The young man had his arm around his companion and the young lady was mostly covered in a brown jacket. The commander smiled.

"Send a message to King Oza." he ordered. "Tell him we've found his bride."


End file.
